Tay Bak Chiang 郑木彰

Tay Bak Chiang, who was born in 1973, graduated from Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1995 and went on to study at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China, in 1997. In the 19th and 22nd United Overseas Bank Painting of the Year Competitions, he won First Prize in the Chinese Painting category (2000 and 2003 respectively). He received the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2002.

Tay Bak Chiang paints heliconias, lotus ponds, and rocks that can be seen in Singapore and Southeast Asian nature. In terms of shape, composition, technique, material, and color, he tries to reinterpret them in new ways. For example, Lotus flowers, are depicted as textured shapes and sculptural blocks in intense colours created by combining pigments and traditional Chinese ink; lotus stalks are depicted as thick, unembellished black strokes; and stones are depicted as textured shapes and sculptural blocks in intense colors created by combining pigments and traditional Chinese ink. Through these issues, he expresses his feelings and philosophies.