Dot Series

The universe is a manifestation of infinite forms.

At macro level there is one universal force that unites everything while at micro level every being is made up of atoms which are essentially the same.

A Greek sculpture that fell from pedestal and broke into thousands pieces, eventually returned to the smallest particles. A human hand that is holding a paint brush today might be made up of one of the participles from ancient Greece. The cycle goes on.

The ancient concept of Oneness has always been fascinating to me. All being are connected through interdependence. Stripping off mask and forms we will find the same core hidden within.

Dots are used to form words in different languages. Words are the symbols of different people and cultures. My aim is to create a bridge between different realms. I believe that there could be harmony in this increasingly divisive world if we see beyond differences.

Beyond Good and Evil, 129 x 191 cm, 2020

Good

ጥሩ (Amharic) अच्छा (Hindi)

Καλός (Greek) טוֹב (Hebrew)

நல்ல (Tamil) сайн (Mongolian)

BONUM (Latin) ดี (Thai) լավ (Armenian)

మంచిది (Telugu) جيد (Arabic)

좋은 (Korean) KUHLE (Zulu)

ကောင်းတယ် (Burmese)

tốt (Vietnamese) хорошо (Russian)

Evil

муу юм (Mongolian) зло (Russian)

شرير (Arabic) Böse (German)

Κακό (Greek) చెడు (Telugu)
悪 (Japanese) IBI (Yoruba) רוע (Hebrew)

Бад (Tajik) ဆိုးသော (Burmese)

खराब (Hindi) gonosz (Hungarian)

JAHAT (Malay) ክፋት (Amharic)

தீய (Tamil) MALUM (Latin)

Inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's book I intend to blur the boundary between the good and evil.

Without knowing the words you would never know which side is good and which side is evil.

Is good always good? Is evil always evil? By what standard? By whose judgment?

The Yin Yang symbol is divided into black and white halves with a opposite dot in each realm.

I want to create my own version of YinYang.

War and Peace, 122 x 91 cm, 2020

This is the blue version of my award-winning piece collected by UOB.

War and Peace explores the intrinsic beauty of calligraphy and the potential of language in contemporary art.
As a metaphor for the “Oneness of Being”, War and Peace presents the recurring and almost binary themes of darkness and light that often define humanity. While the Arabic and Hebrew text stand out in contrast, they are also meant to stand for their shared qualities such as the similarity in sounds of the word ‘Peace’: salam in Arabic, shalom in Hebrew.

Words are broken into dots to blur the difference between languages.
حرب = war in Arabic
سلام = peace in Arabic
מלחמה = war in Hebrew
שלום = peace in Hebrew

These three pieces are sacred words in Sanskrit. I have learnt to chant Sanskrit mantra since young and I am very fascinated by the shape and sound of Sanskrit words.

I chose to paint Shanti in green tone and an impressionistic style to evoke a feeling of peace and serenity.

Anitya was covered with different shades of greyish purple to symbolize the impermanence of forms.

I used warm colour scheme with gold paint as highlight for Sunyata with reference to the interior of traditional temple.

Shanti शान्तिः (Peace in Sanskrit), 61 x 122 cm

Anitya अनित्य (Impermanence in Sanskrit), 61 x 122 cm

Sunyata शून्यता (Emptiness in Sanskrit), 61 x 122 cm

Emptiness, 122 x 122 cm, 2020

This is the last work I created for this series and I wanted to try to different approach. The background starts with dark and cold colours and gradually transits to bright and warm colour in the middle. The square is formed within a square, a homage to Joseph Albers' Homage to the Square.

The word EMPTINESS is formed by the emptiness on canvas.

空 (Emptiness in Chinese), 127 x 127 cm, 2020

This is the word Emptiness in ancient Chinese script which is curvier than the modern version.

I rotate and repeat the word four times and form a unique pattern.

There are four 空 in this painting with the implication of 四大皆空 (the four elements, earth, water, fire, wind, are derived from emptiness).

Art, 91 x 122 cm, 2019

ART (English) கலை (Tamil) 艺术 (Chinese) SENI (Malay)

This is the very first painting that I created for this series and I used Damien Hirst's dot painting as my point of departure. Many laymen might question the artistic value of Hirst's dot series. They think, 'oh well, I can jolly well do that.' In fact they are right. Damien Hirst hires many assistants to paint the colourful dots and you might land the job with some basic painting skill.

However you cant question the artistic value of my work.

If you ask me,' Is this art?'

The answer is 'Of course it is ART!'

Cycle, 91 x 122 cm, 2020

Θάνατος (Death in Greek) الحياة (Life in Arabic) 生(Life in Chinese)

இறப்பு (Death in Tamil) החיים (Life in Hebrew) VITA (Life in Latin)

الموت (Death in Arabic) जिंदगी (Life in Hindi) Ζωή(Life in Greek)

死(Death in Chinese) வாழ்க்கை (Life in Tamil)

מוות (Death in Hebrew) MORTEM (Death in Latin) मौत (Death in Hindi)

Every form is merely a temporary manifestation.

It comes and goes. Atoms constantly rearrange themselves to form different beings.

Humans celebrate life and shun death. The truth is that life and death are recurring stages of an endless cycle.

Truth, 160 x 120 cm, 2020

진실 (Korean) VERITAS (Latin)

உண்மை (Tamil)

TRUTH (English) אמת (Hebrew)

حقيقة (Arabic) 真理 (Chinese)

KEBENARAN (Malay)

सत्य (Hindi) αλήθεια (Greek)

Dozens tubes of paint were poured onto the canvas and finally a dark purple layer was applied to unify them all. I have once seen Mark Rothko's dark purple painting in person and I was impressed by its mystery and somberness. While conceptualizing about TRUTH I naturally associate this theme with dark purple.

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Being and Nothingness, 129 x 89 cm (with frame), 2020

本来无一物 (right) Since all is void

何处惹尘埃 (left) where can the dust alight?

-- a famous stanza from a Buddhist monk Huineng 六祖慧能

I borrowed the title Being and Nothingness from French philosopher Jean Paul Satre while the two stanzas from a Buddhist monk from 8th century.

空即是色, 122 x 122 cm, 2020

Emptiness is Form

Form is Emptiness

This is the most famous stanza from Heart Sutra

樂, 90 x 90 cm, 2020

This is an ancient Chinese character which means either Happiness or Music.

The pictorial character apparently derives from the shape of musical instruments thousand years ago.

Coexistence, 90 x 90 cm, 2020

فايروس (Arabic) ウイルス (Japanese)

ቫይረስ (Amharic) वाइरस (Hindi)

Вирус (Russian) 바이러스 (Korean)

வைரஸ் (Tamil) վիրուս (Armenian)

ვირუსი (Georgian) ವೈರಸ್ (Kannada)

Despite the different scripts they all sound the same: VIRUS

阿弥陀佛, 76 x 76 cm, 2020

空即是色 , 76 x 76 cm, 2020

Brotherhood, 122 x 91 cm, 2020

मुसलमान (Muslim in Hindi)

الهندوسي (Hindu in Arabic)

Saffron symbolizes Hinduism while green symbolizes Islam.

The clash between Hindus and Muslims has been the undertone of India for centuries.

I have visited India multiple times and was saddened by the deep divide between the two communities.

Their collective name is called by each other's voice and brotherhood is the ultimate goal.

GOD , 90 x 90 cm, 2019

神 (Chinese) GOD (English)

தேவன் (Tamil)

TUHAN (Malay)

"Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.“

- Immanuel Kant

靈 , 90 x 90 cm, 2020

‘Spirit’ in ancient Chinese character.

This SELFIE series is a mini series within the dot series.

My intention is cover the whole wall with the word SELFIE in different language. All words are written in mirror image and viewers are expected to use their handphone to view the actual words.

The paradox intended is: what you see is not the real thing. The true meaning is hidden somewhere, in this case, a selfie.

It is also to tease those exhibition goers who spend more time talking selfie than viewing the actual artworks.