SHE crunches numbers by day, and dabbles with paint on weekends.
Accountant Ang Kooi Yong picked up painting as a way to de-stress, and has been a student of master printmaker Loo Foh Sang for more than a decade.
The 50-year-old laughingly said she even received commissions to do paintings for her colleagues and that her office served as a mini gallery showcasing a few of her works.
“My current favourite medium is an unconventional form of Chinese ink developed by Loo. It involves crushing paper and a few layers of paint.
“The colour effects are very striking and the results look similar to oil on canvas,” said Ang, who also enjoys photography.
Ang’s paintings of sunflowers and poppies, made using Chinese ink and oil on canvas respectively, are among those featured in the Women Days (II) art exhibition at Atelier 11 gallery.
The exhibition, held in celebration of International Women’s Day, showcases 87 paintings by 22 female artists using a variety of media and featuring a variety of subjects such as flowers, animals, landscapes, portraits and abstract concepts.
The artists come from a variety of backgrounds and ages, including professionals and retirees, with the youngest aged 26 and oldest 74. Nine are foreign nationals, representing Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India and Singapore.
Atelier 11 gallery was founded by Loo and his wife Tan Pek Cheng, both of whom were trained at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore and Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris.
Tan’s signature style is that of figurative paintings depicting the femininity and gracefulness of the female form, with motherly love and local cultures as the featured themes.
“I prefer visualising what I want to paint, rather than depicting real-life scenarios,” said the grandmother of four.
“Having majored in sculptures during my time in Paris has made me very familiar with the study of human figures.”
Tan, 74, still makes regular visits to Paris to catch up with friends and family, and to visit the galleries for inspiration.
Her classmate Hong Poh Gaik specialises in Chinese ink painting, with flowers and fish being her favoured subjects.
“I’m particularly fascinated with chrysanthemums and hibiscus,” said the 70-year-old who also teaches art at a local sports and culture centre.
“There’s just something very interesting about the multiple petal layers of the chrysanthemum and how the colours of the hibiscus change at different times of the day.”
Hong said she uses the same Chinese ink technique for her more contemporary paintings featuring Kokeshi dolls as subjects.
Freelance graphic designer Felicia Yee contributed several works for the exhibition – an abstract series featuring the four seasons and Chinese ink paintings of sunflowers.
On her seasons series, Yee said: “I just mixed the colours on the canvas, then tilted the canvas this way and that to create a Zen-like effect.
“Each season is represented by different colours. Pink for spring as it’s also my favourite colour, red and yellow for summer, brown and yellow for autumn and blue for winter.”
The 44-year-old, who took up classes with Loo about 15 years ago, said dabbling with art had taught her patience as there was no way of knowing what the end results would be.
There is no mistaking the family theme in Alice Chang’s almost dreamlike paintings of elephants, many of which depict the bond between parent and child.
“I wanted to paint something to represent the relationship between my son and I. That expanded to include a family when my husband said the father should be represented too.
“It took me two months to complete the five paintings, which included visits to the local zoo to study elephants and to understand their folds and curves,” shared the mother of a seven-year-old boy.
She also plans to go on an African safari with her family to view the giant pachyderms up close.
Chang, 48, favours the oil-on-canvas medium using the palette as her tool, as she said it allowed her to work fast and capture her artistic mood quickly.
On the exhibition, Loo hoped to make it an Asian-level event next year to give a chance for more female artists to shine.
Women Days (II) is being held until April 3 at Atelier 11, 2-3, 2nd Floor, Wisma Pauson, Jalan Taming Kanan 1, Taman Taming Jaya, Balakong.
The gallery is open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 11am to 5pm. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is free.
Resource: http://www.thestar.com.my
Accountant Ang Kooi Yong picked up painting as a way to de-stress, and has been a student of master printmaker Loo Foh Sang for more than a decade.
The 50-year-old laughingly said she even received commissions to do paintings for her colleagues and that her office served as a mini gallery showcasing a few of her works.
“My current favourite medium is an unconventional form of Chinese ink developed by Loo. It involves crushing paper and a few layers of paint.
“The colour effects are very striking and the results look similar to oil on canvas,” said Ang, who also enjoys photography.
Ang’s paintings of sunflowers and poppies, made using Chinese ink and oil on canvas respectively, are among those featured in the Women Days (II) art exhibition at Atelier 11 gallery.
The exhibition, held in celebration of International Women’s Day, showcases 87 paintings by 22 female artists using a variety of media and featuring a variety of subjects such as flowers, animals, landscapes, portraits and abstract concepts.
The artists come from a variety of backgrounds and ages, including professionals and retirees, with the youngest aged 26 and oldest 74. Nine are foreign nationals, representing Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India and Singapore.
Atelier 11 gallery was founded by Loo and his wife Tan Pek Cheng, both of whom were trained at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore and Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris.
Tan’s signature style is that of figurative paintings depicting the femininity and gracefulness of the female form, with motherly love and local cultures as the featured themes.
“I prefer visualising what I want to paint, rather than depicting real-life scenarios,” said the grandmother of four.
“Having majored in sculptures during my time in Paris has made me very familiar with the study of human figures.”
Tan, 74, still makes regular visits to Paris to catch up with friends and family, and to visit the galleries for inspiration.
Her classmate Hong Poh Gaik specialises in Chinese ink painting, with flowers and fish being her favoured subjects.
“I’m particularly fascinated with chrysanthemums and hibiscus,” said the 70-year-old who also teaches art at a local sports and culture centre.
“There’s just something very interesting about the multiple petal layers of the chrysanthemum and how the colours of the hibiscus change at different times of the day.”
Hong said she uses the same Chinese ink technique for her more contemporary paintings featuring Kokeshi dolls as subjects.
Freelance graphic designer Felicia Yee contributed several works for the exhibition – an abstract series featuring the four seasons and Chinese ink paintings of sunflowers.
On her seasons series, Yee said: “I just mixed the colours on the canvas, then tilted the canvas this way and that to create a Zen-like effect.
“Each season is represented by different colours. Pink for spring as it’s also my favourite colour, red and yellow for summer, brown and yellow for autumn and blue for winter.”
The 44-year-old, who took up classes with Loo about 15 years ago, said dabbling with art had taught her patience as there was no way of knowing what the end results would be.
There is no mistaking the family theme in Alice Chang’s almost dreamlike paintings of elephants, many of which depict the bond between parent and child.
“I wanted to paint something to represent the relationship between my son and I. That expanded to include a family when my husband said the father should be represented too.
“It took me two months to complete the five paintings, which included visits to the local zoo to study elephants and to understand their folds and curves,” shared the mother of a seven-year-old boy.
She also plans to go on an African safari with her family to view the giant pachyderms up close.
Chang, 48, favours the oil-on-canvas medium using the palette as her tool, as she said it allowed her to work fast and capture her artistic mood quickly.
On the exhibition, Loo hoped to make it an Asian-level event next year to give a chance for more female artists to shine.
Women Days (II) is being held until April 3 at Atelier 11, 2-3, 2nd Floor, Wisma Pauson, Jalan Taming Kanan 1, Taman Taming Jaya, Balakong.
The gallery is open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 11am to 5pm. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is free.
Resource: http://www.thestar.com.my
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