Redaction,
2022
Visual Arts Centre, Singapore
The Sweltering Sky, 2022, acrylic, charcoal, ink and collage on canvas, 71 x 71 cm w.
Climate change and the effects of urban heat island effect created by concrete buildings and roads are causes for great concern. In June 2022, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that heat-trapping carbon dioxide is more than 50% higher than pre-industrial times, despite the Kyoto Protocol’s mandate to reduce such emissions.
Living in the equatorial tropics, I have noticed the increasing shift in temperature. Whilst a rogue asteroid may fly into the earth's hemisphere and potentially destroy the planet, the internal heat from within seems more prescient and detrimental.
The Three Muses, 2022, acrylic, charcoal, ink and collage on canvas, 61 x 61 cm w.
Sometimes, it feels like we’re living in a dreamlike state. Maybe, it’s selective information through our news feeds. An abstraction of reality that mitigates cold hard truth. Curation makes it easier to survive the day. Intentional blinders. Battling a global pandemic, mass shootings and chilly visions of empty playgrounds. Now, war has imploded. Children are never safe from harm. I wish they will be around to experience life and have a chance to grow old. These muses are not from Greek mythology. Rather, they are reflections on war, gun violence and racial unrest.
