To Top
2012
Oil on canvas
30 x 24 in
Click image to see close-up.
2012
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 in
Click image to see close-up.
Intersections: Panda Taxi is a development of my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. By bringing together two radically different elements, the work directly speaks to environmental concerns as well as cultural changes. The intersection of East and West points to globalization and further multicultural exchange, a theme that is very important to me.
Simultaneously, the taxi imposing itself into the environment of the panda relates to growing environmental concerns. As the technological human world encroaches on the wild environment, change is inevitable. This work brings that dissonance to the fore.
It is both beautiful and jarring, a paradox that directly channels the Neo-Decadent.
2012
Oil on canvas
20 x 15 in
Collaboration with Singaporean photographer Simon Ho.
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Oil painting and digital painting on canvas (new media work)
54.3 x 42 cm
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Oil painting and digital painting on canvas (new media work)
54.3 x 42 cm
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Oil painting and digital painting on canvas (new media work)
54.3 x 42 cm
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Oil painting and digital painting on canvas (new media work)
54.3 x 42 cm
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Oil painting and digital painting on canvas (new media work)
54.3 x 42 cm
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Oil painting and digital painting on canvas (new media work)
54.3 x 42 cm
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Oil painting and digital painting on canvas (new media work)
54.3 x 42 cm
Click on image for close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Digital painting on Sihl archival paper
21.75 x 30.48 cm
Click on image to see close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The digital cityscapes of Suspended Flux are part of the MRT Portrait Series component of the show. I created several candid portraits of people I saw while traveling by MRT. However, the portraits on their own were not complete without cityscapes to live with them on the wall. The MRT is a liminal space in that it exists between locations and is, in itself, not a real location. People enter the MRT when they are headed somewhere else. The MRT is not an end in itself. The presence of the cityscapes emphasizes that aspect of transportation and underlines the power of the liminal space to create hybridity. The MRT allowed me to explore Singapore’s mutlicultural identity more than anything else because it was a contained space where people of all ages, cultures, and economic backgrounds would co-exist. The cityscapes are always unpopulated, allowing the viewer to weave narratives involving the people in the portraits.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Digital painting on Sihl archival paper
21.75 x 30.48 cm
Click on image to see close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The digital cityscapes of Suspended Flux are part of the MRT Portrait Series component of the show. I created several candid portraits of people I saw while traveling by MRT. However, the portraits on their own were not complete without cityscapes to live with them on the wall. The MRT is a liminal space in that it exists between locations and is, in itself, not a real location. People enter the MRT when they are headed somewhere else. The MRT is not an end in itself. The presence of the cityscapes emphasizes that aspect of transportation and underlines the power of the liminal space to create hybridity. The MRT allowed me to explore Singapore’s mutlicultural identity more than anything else because it was a contained space where people of all ages, cultures, and economic backgrounds would co-exist. The cityscapes are always unpopulated, allowing the viewer to weave narratives involving the people in the portraits.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Digital painting on Sihl archival paper
21.75 x 30.48 cm
Click on image to see close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The digital cityscapes of Suspended Flux are part of the MRT Portrait Series component of the show. I created several candid portraits of people I saw while traveling by MRT. However, the portraits on their own were not complete without cityscapes to live with them on the wall. The MRT is a liminal space in that it exists between locations and is, in itself, not a real location. People enter the MRT when they are headed somewhere else. The MRT is not an end in itself. The presence of the cityscapes emphasizes that aspect of transportation and underlines the power of the liminal space to create hybridity. The MRT allowed me to explore Singapore’s mutlicultural identity more than anything else because it was a contained space where people of all ages, cultures, and economic backgrounds would co-exist. The cityscapes are always unpopulated, allowing the viewer to weave narratives involving the people in the portraits.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Digital painting on Sihl archival paper
21.75 x 30.48 cm
Click on image to see close-up.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The digital cityscapes of Suspended Flux are part of the MRT Portrait Series component of the show. I created several candid portraits of people I saw while traveling by MRT. However, the portraits on their own were not complete without cityscapes to live with them on the wall. The MRT is a liminal space in that it exists between locations and is, in itself, not a real location. People enter the MRT when they are headed somewhere else. The MRT is not an end in itself. The presence of the cityscapes emphasizes that aspect of transportation and underlines the power of the liminal space to create hybridity. The MRT allowed me to explore Singapore’s mutlicultural identity more than anything else because it was a contained space where people of all ages, cultures, and economic backgrounds would co-exist. The cityscapes are always unpopulated, allowing the viewer to weave narratives involving the people in the portraits.
Suspended Flux: Multiculturalism in Singapore
2012
Digital painting on Sihl archival paper
19 x 14 cm
Click images for rest of series.
Suspended Flux explores Singapore’s identity of multiculturalism and of hybridity. I use portraiture to create a microcosm of “my Singapore” – a space where people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures co-exist. The combination of digital and oil painting is both my re-imagining of Klimt’s Decadent paintings as well as a nod to Singapore itself. I see Singapore as a place steeped in history and tradition but also a very modern, technological city. Using both the very traditional medium of oil and the modern medium of digital painting, I am capturing that facet of Singapore. Suspended Flux will truly be complete at the time of the opening, when people populate the gallery space and are united, for at least a single moment, by artwork. The artwork’s ability to effect the world of people is the quality that makes that work alive. It exists and is real because it has caused change in another person.
The portaits for Suspended Flux speak to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic. The realistically rendered face contrasts against the design-like qualities of the clothes and the chaos of the background. The viewer is invited to experience both seemingly-contradictory aspects of the painting: that it is full of life (three-dimensional, transiet) and that it is an illusion (flat, static). These aspects of art are always fighting against each other and in the final painting, they continue that struggle but also reach a perfect balance.
2012
Oil on canvas
52 x 22 inches
Click on image to see close-up.
In terms of execution, I was partly informed by Georgia O’Keeffe, Audubon plant drawings, and the descriptions of flowers in J.K. Huysmans’ decadent novel A Rebours. In the novel, the narrator describes how Des Esseintes’ “innate preference for the artificial had led him to neglect the real flower for its copy“ and then goes into a series of descriptions of the grotesque and seductive appearance of plants. I was inspired by my father’s early photography and, though not painting from his photographs, I tried to capture the feeling I had of looking at his flower images projected onto a large surface. The viewer is engulfed by the large size of the flower and lost in its colors.
Houston Zoo Animal Conservation Project
2011
Oil on canvas
36 x 24 inches
Click image to see close-up.
This painting is in line with an aesthetic I am creating where I combine abstract design with a trompe l’oeil element, in this case the chimp. It stems from my academic background in Aestheticism and Decadence, where art, as mentioned in the preface to Henry James’ The Spoils of Poynton, ultimately triumphs over reality because of its ability to capture a perfect moment. I was also playing with conventions in portraiture, giving the Chimpanzee an almost human quality as well as a general air of intelligence.
Shown at the Jack Hanna Gala, Houston Zoo, 2011.
Houston Zoo Animal Conservation Project
2011
Oil on canvas
30 x 24 inches
Click on image to see close-up.
This painting is informed by nineteenth-century safari and Orientalist paintings. I am pulling from the trompe l’oeil tradition to highlight how art both re-creates and improves upon life. The obsessive creation of detail relates to a Decadent penchant for design, specifically for the creation of paradoxical space that combines sparse composition with overly-designed elements. In art there can be a careful order or a controlled chaos that is not possible in reality.
Shown at the Jack Hanna Gala, Houston Zoo, 2011.
2011
Acrylic on plaster, in situ ceiling painting
200 x 280 cm
Private collection (Barcelona, Spain)
Click on image for digital design.
This ceiling painting is located in the dining room of a late-19th-century apartmen in Barcelona. The original ceiling of the “comedor” had a simple patterned border but the plaster was rotten due to mold. In a gesture to the painted border, I have created a new border for the space that acknolwedges the building’s art historical period and leaves space for modern interpretation. The color scheme was taken from the original Catalan tiles of the comedor.
The curvalinear, organic forms are informed by Art Nouveau but they lack the typical dark border. The form is an octopus with an artichoke head, a whimsical creature that exisits in the public space of the apartment
2011
Watercolor and walnut ink on Arches paper
22 x 30 inches
Private collection (Barcelona, Spain)
In one of my signature styles, I combine watercolor and ink to create a simultaneously delicate and vibrant drawn painting. The bird is the focus of the work and the details of inked in feathers draw the viewer into the captured moment. Through my Neo-Decadent aesthetic, I try to reveal the immortal nature of art through its ability to seize a single instant in time. Furthermore, I juxtapose three-dimensionality of form with a delight in two-dimensional design and pattern.
2011
Oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches
An Indian elephant raises its trunk to greet the world.
Having come from a country that battles with Amazonian deforestation, conservation has always been an important issue for me. Animals have been featured subjects in my work for several years and my animal artwork has won awards. Artwork can be an excellent vehicle for engaging a cause and rallying people around an initiative. When someone sees a powerful drawing or painting of an endangered animal, they can be motivated to learn about the environment and take steps to ameliorating our world.
This painting was shown at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Houston, Texas, during the Awty International School Gala.
2010
Oil on canvas
36 x 24 inches
Temporary group show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (February 2011).
Shown at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Norma R. Ory Gallery) in February 2011, Adi is part of a larger body of imagetext writer’s portraits. This portrait stays true to my Neo-Decadent aesthetic in that it seeks to combine the arts – text, sound (the spoken poem), and image. Is Adi’s writing in the background more of a portrait of himself than the image in the front? The two elements compete with each other but nonetheless there is a harmony between them. While the figure has a strong sense of volume, the text emphasizes the flat nature of the canvas and the medium. In creating the sculptural figure of Adi, I was particularly informed by Ingres’ 1845 portrait of the Vicomtess Othenin d’Haussonville (Frick Collection, NYC).
For Bullett Magazine, Premier Fall 2010 issue
2010
Graphite on paper with ink
12 x 9 inches
Marks: The Barcelona World Race Journey
2011
20 x 40 inches
The boat is an architectural space that intersects the landscape and (re)defines it. The black spaces in the painting are points where three-dimensionality starts to fall apart as well as pauses in the movement. I wanted to introduce the “black space” which features prominently in my ink drawings into my painting. They are locations were the eye can rest but also invite the viewer to sink into the painting. The black spaces create a purely visual grammar within the image: they are the full-stops that punctuate the image-space.