SPECTRUM art exhibition, 5-7 Sept @ Visual Art Centre Dhoby Ghaut Green

It's been a while, happy to participate in an exhibition at Visual Art Centre Dhoby Ghaut Green, 5-7 Sept, by Studio Fine Arts with some recent SG artworks :) 

p.s. For those in town, do drop by this serene green oasis in Orchard Road for its lovely gardens and local art activities before the area is redeveloped as I have heard there are plans. It is a lovely place with many nostalgic memories for me personally as an important part of my art journey, and a key reason for my participation.

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EXHIBIT DETAILS:

WHERE:       Visual Art Centre, 

                    10 Penang Road,  

                    #01-02 Dhoby Ghaut Green, 

                    Singapore 238469

MRT:            Dhoby Ghaut, Exit A

WHEN:        Sept 5, 5pm-7.30pm (Fri Opening);

                    Sept 6, 11am-7.30pm (Sat);

                    Sept 7, 11am-5pm (Sun)

WEBSITE:    www.studiofineartz.com

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Learn more about my Singapore Shophouses series at this 1-minute video: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq9L8wR2ETQ

Or check out the full VR display at: https://www.artsteps.com/view/68161c93eddde8380ae6285a 

                                           

Art by Yen ~ Singapore Shophouses, an evolving VR exhibition

** Evolving Exhibition **

Art by Yen ~ Singapore Shophouses

WHERE: Virtual (VR) exhibition on artsteps.com at: 

https://www.artsteps.com/view/68161c93eddde8380ae6285a

WHEN: This is an evolving exhibition of artist Ong Hwee Yen's legacy works from 2022 

in tribute to her favourite architecture in her home city. 

It will stay published with updates from time to time. Currently artworks upto 2025 including sold ones. 

VR exhibition is viewable from browser directly

OR download the Artsteps app & search "Singapore Shophouses" for the exhibition. 

If you have trouble viewing the VR exhibition, catch a 1-minute video of the guided tour below:

Affordable Art Fair Singapore 2024, 7-10 Nov @ F1 Pit Building

** Upcoming Event **

Affordable Art Fair Singapore 2024

WHERE: F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard,

S 038975, Studio Fine Art Gallery (#2A-06)

MRT: Promenade (Downtown Line)

WHEN: Nov 7, 2-10pm (Thur private view);

Nov 8, 11am-6pm, 6-10pm (Fri);

Nov 9, 11am-7pm (Sat);

Nov 10, 11am-6pm (Sun)

BUY TICKETS Nov 8-10: 

​https://affordableartfair.com/fairs/singapore

My Joo Chiat Corner art series (part 2)

​The art journey inspired by Van Gogh continues with the depictions of the nooks and corners around my studio in the peranakan enclave, Joo Chiat, in eastern Singapore..  

The exploration begins within my studio where I was inspired by a neighbour to garden. Twas another trials and tribulations journey for one not predisposed to green fingers and a therapeutic journey to have some finally flourish and adorn my window view :)  As well as inspire me to paint still life!

      

                                    Kalanchoe of Joy, 24x18 inches, oil on canvas

With these yellow florals I had bought for chinese new year looking mightily familiar to me ~ reminiscent of a certain master's famous sunflowers ~ Kalanchoe of Joy was born with a composition that is a nod to Van Gogh, no less. The companion piece, Orchid of Life, is a special one as the Singapore national flower is an orchid. It was pure joy to watch these elegant blooms open one by one. And to paint them :) 

   

      

                                     Orchid of Life, 24x18 inches, oil on canvas

Enough smiling with the flowery, the next works are literally corner pieces. To live up to my art series' namesake, kidding ;p There is a beauty to architecture in corners. They anchor the place and provide a fascinating study of the crossing cultures and historical mix of the place. I believe that buildings are alive and witnesses to the tumultuous happenings around them in the passage of time. I don't like straight lines and so in spite of my love for painting buildings, they are never mathematically structural and always organic to my surreal feel for the sights and sounds of the scenes that touch me.

 

Joo Chiat Corner, 24x36 inches, oil on canvas 

Joo Chiat Corner holds a dear childhood memory to me. Twas an old bus route that I used to take with the bus huffing and puffing at the turn, oft getting stuck due to some parked vehicle. The same bus still goes by today but the road is now an improved one-way with a nice pavement. I miss the shops of old with the bustling traditional trades but I also like the mix of old and modern today with the contrasting architecture at both sides that have seen the times change. On the left we have the more Malay-Islamic style buildings leading to Geylang Serai. On the right are the more Chinese ones with some truly beautiful peranakan residences down the stretch. Joo Chiat Road itself is a bridge between malay Geylang Serai and chinese peranakan Katong areas, 2 distinct cultures. And so we have an interesting melting pot of 2 colourful architectural influences at this lovely corner that inspired my whimsical take. 

  

       

                The Corner Shophouse (joo chiat road), 30x20 inches, oil on canvas

Just further down Joo Chiat Road is an iconic shophouse in an angled corner, a 1928 building with impressive chinese dragons overlooking the buzz in the shops below. The building was originally bright yellow when I moved into the area and then painted over beige white which annoyed me at the loss of colour. But one day when I was walking by in the twilight, the dark mahogany motifs came alive and struck me how delicately intricate they were with many unknown ancient creatures woven into them if one were to look carefully. The motifs of this building are simply beautiful no matter what new paint coats adorn them or how the shops below have changed from traditional trades to a hip coffee joint today. And it is this slice of history, this moment in time, that I am capturing in The Corner Shophouse, just as the architectural beauty itself is a timeless testament travelling from the past to the present.

 
Pretty Alley (koon seng road), 24x18 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD
 

Insta enthusiasts and tourists often make a beeline for the Koon Seng Road shophouses near the middle junction of Joo Chiat Road, oft said to be the most colourful picturesque street in Singapore. If one really takes the time to explore the area, the real gems are the peeks of these peranakan beauties from the many backlanes and corridors. I stumbled across this Pretty Alley that frames possibly one of the most photographed green and pink houses with high alley windows dancing towards them together with the arching lamppost. My feline friend in the picture would agree with me that it is a beau-ootiful view :) 

Corridor View (koon seng road), 24x18 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD

​Finally, my sojourn ends with an entrancing Corridor View framing the last shophouse in the famous row. It's an intriguing one with a view within a view within a view, if you can spot what I am saying ;p

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Purchase any items at my art stores:

www.artbyyen.com

15Oct-30Nov only: use code CHR2023 at checkout for buy 2 get 1 for 50% off ​

yenpaintings.etsy.com

25% off your order when you buy 2 items by 30Nov 

p.s. For the nft-inclined, my inaugural OpenSea store:

https://opensea.io/artbyyen

My Joo Chiat Corner art series

​It all started with a dalliance with van gogh..  

Don't we all when starting out as novice painters of western art? Falling in love with the starry nights, the vibrancy of the palette, drawn by the energy and impassioned artworks of the most famous painter of them all. At least Yen did, and went on to discover a whole new world of impressionism and expressionism.

Chinatown Blues (teck lim road), 30x24 inches, ​oil on canvas

But Van Gogh remains unique, described as post-impressionist but not yet modern art, one can never peg him as either as there were none like him and none after.  

The Blue Shophouse (joo chiat road), 30x20 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD

The 8 Shophouses (joo chiat road), 14x80inches (8 canvas panels @14"x10"), ​oil on canvas

Yen was perhaps one of millions inspired to pick up the painting brush by this great man who poignantly was not recognized professionally in his equally well known dramatic lifetime. ​​  

 

A Stroll At Joo Chiat (joo chiat road), 24x33 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD 

                                

                             Five Foot Way (joo chiat road), 24x18 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD

While Van Gogh painted in Arles France (Yen had the privilege of traversing to for a tribute), Yen painted in our very own backyard. Yes, Singapore. The place Yen calls home after years of backpacking and art-ing around the world.

 

Once Upon A Time (joo chiat Kuan Im Tng temple), 20x30 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD

 

Memory Lane (joo chiat), 18x18 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD

Her DREAMembrance series , exploring the interplay between dreams and memories, are vignettes of local landmarks in impasto abstract style, a nod to the man who first inspired her in the beginning.  

  

A Vintage Shophouse (joo chiat road), 14x10 inches, acrylic on canvas, SOLD

​Recently, the wanderer has found a permanent home for her studio in eastern Singapore. The little enclave called Joo Chiat with the ubiquitous peranakan houses is becoming very lively with exquisite culinaries sprouting alongside traditional works and nonya eateries. In this charming place, Yen discovers nooks and corners to love to bits every day and to put into her paintings as her art journey continues with her  My Joo Chiat Corner series..

The 8 Peranakan Houses (koon seng road), 14x80inches (8 canvas panels @14"x10"), ​oil on canvas, SOLD

Purchase paintings at my art store.

Affordable Art Fair Singapore 2022, 17-20 Nov @ F1 Pit Building

** Upcoming Event **

Affordable Art Fair Singapore 2022

WHERE: F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard,

S 038975, Studio Fine Art Gallery (3C-04)

MRT: Promenade (Downtown Line)

WHEN: Nov 17, 3-10pm (Thur private view);

Nov 18, 12-6pm, 6-9pm (Fri);

Nov 19, 11am-7pm (Sat);

Nov 20, 11am-6pm (Sun)

BUY TICKETS Nov 18-20: 

​https://affordableartfair.com/fairs/singapore

For Charity this November..

After a beep last year this time (due to sheer exhaustion from moving house!), am getting back into my annual christmas "pilgrimage" mode. 

November is the time when gifts can be sent in time for christmas, and I can make the donation in december as a cheer for the seasons. Yes, 50% of my november sales proceeds will go to to elderly charities in my country, a personal cause of mine these few years given the inadequacy of social netting here. 

This is also my 10th christmas charity event, marking how long I have been painting and come into confidence as an artist to share my creations with the world. It has been one long journey from impressionism to expressionism, and now to exploring abstractism. Along the way, I have made many friends and met many art lovers and creators, an invaluable experience I would not have exhanged for anything in the world period.

My online shops: 

http://yenpaintings.etsy.com - 15% off all paintings

http://yen.artfire.com - use code: ART4CHARITY for 15% off

Do support the cause, and the art if you like it :)

PostScript: MERCI to all who supported the cause this November. Total contributions of S$350 (approx US$260) have been made to St. Andrew's Mission Hospital  and Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital which have been doing very excellent, patient and valuable work in taking care of our elderly that are in their good hands. 
Be merry most if not all the time, and always healthy !!

The Abstraction Journey

A post shared by Yen (@yenpaintings) on Jul 14, 2018 at 11:10am PDT

"city tribes" + "Cs n ladders", each 40"x30", mixed media on canvas.  

losing & finding oneself again, souls in the city.

A post shared by Yen (@yenpaintings) on Jul 14, 2018 at 11:10am PDT

"wispy", "oasis", "musings & "deep thoughts", each 24x24in, oil on canvas.  

The artworks began with 4 musical riffs, became one, and then each finding its own path.

Visit ENSEMBLE: coming out into Abstraction exhibition 19-21 July: https://www.facebook.com/ensemble.abstract/

ENSEMBLE abstract art exhibition, 19-21 July @ The Arts House

An upcoming exhibition with 7 other fellow NAFA abstract art class alumni, where we had a wonderful one year journey together under the guidance of teacher-mentor Mr Raymond Yap, who is also our curator. For this exhibition, it is yet another exciting sojourn into unexpectedness as I ventured into the world of abstractism and found myself going back to the basics of colours, shapes and lines that drew me to loving making art in the first place. Starting with something or beginning with nothing, it gets somewhere, somehow, disappears, gone and then comes back again. And that is the beauty of it all. Come discover something within you, and in us :)

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EXHIBIT DETAILS:

WHERE:       The Arts House Gallery 1, 1 Old Parliament Lane S 179429

MRT:            City Hall, Raffles Place

WHEN:        July 19, 6pm-9pm (Fri opening night);

                    July 20, 11am-9pm (Sat);

                    July 21, 11am-6pm (Sun)

WEBSITE:    https://www.facebook.com/ensemble.abstract/

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Creation of DREAMembrance art series

A post shared by Yen (@yenpaintings) on Jul 14, 2018 at 11:10am PDT

"Lau Pa Sat", 30" x 24", oil on canvas 2018.  

The place that my eyes are drawn to whenever I am in town, the Telok Ayer Market, its chinese moniker the Old Market, an archtiectural landmark haven that has always been, never mind the endless modernity sprouting around it.  

A post shared by Yen (@yenpaintings) on Jul 28, 2018 at 8:01am PDT

"The Lost Station", 30" x 24", oil on canvas 2018 

Lost in time, literally, our beloved Tanjong Pagar Railway Station saw its last train depart from Singapore to Malaysia in 2011 and then closed in 2016 to be re-made into a new mrt station, due far away in 2025.

A post shared by Yen (@yenpaintings) on Jul 31, 2018 at 6:16am PDT

"The Silent Dome", 30" x 24", oil on canvas 2018 
From the Supreme Court to the National Gallery, the quintessential Dome stayed intact, thankfully, a comforting presence anchoring the padang field and a silent witness to many a historic event in the ever-changing city.

A post shared by Yen (@yenpaintings) on Jul 21, 2018 at 8:39pm PDT

"Chinatown Blues", 30" x 24", oil on canvas 2018 

The black white balconies at this classy row of peranakan shophouses on a nonchalent back lane called Teck Lim Road seem to jazz and have a life of their own, nudging me to paint them. And so I did.

Visit DREAMembrance art exhibition 3-5 Aug: https://www.facebook.com/events/624970771220288/