Chua Ek Kay
Shophouse Impressions
Ink on rice paper
68x68cm
2000

When Chua Ek Kay returned from Hong Kong to Singapore in 1986, he developed the practice of painting outdoors. He would travel to places such as Beach Road, Tanjong Pagar or Chinatown to observe and paint the old shophouses he observed that many of the old shops were torn down and replaced with modern high rise buildings. Many daily activities that took place because of the presence of these shops then became past memories with this change in the landscape. That evoked some sadness and regret and Chua wanted to express these emotions through his paintings.

To bring across these feelings, he adopted the xieyi approach to illustrate the shophouses and street scenes. He would place greater emphasis on a handful of key elements on the architecture and street such as windows or street signs. This style of painting eventually developed into abstract compositions.

Chua Ek Kay returned from Australia to Singapore in 1996. When he came back. the way in which he composed paintings if street scenes started to change. He gradually did away showcasing the characteristics of the Literati Style of painting. Instead of presenting different tonal values in the ink wash, Chua opted to present patches of ink that were completely black. This was then coupled with large areas of negative space. He thought that this created contrast in his paintings and was heavily influenced by the western art that he was exposed to during his time in Australia.

Chua Ek Kay was awarded the Cultural Medallion by the National Arts Council in 1999 for his artistic excellence and contributions to local art scene. A 60m mural titled “The Reflections” which was made up of 4 paintings by Chua can be found at Clarke Quay MRT station.

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