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PUBLICATIONS
Penang Artists 1920’s – 1990’s (The Art Gallery, Editions: 1990, 1992. By Dr. Tan Chee Khuan)

This diptych, which can be separate stand-alones as a portrait and a landscape, is from a series of experimental small works done because of ill health back in his studio in Kuala Lumpur after a sojourn in Terengganu.

He found these smaller works of 34cm x 35cm, which occupied him from 1999 to 2003, ideal for trying out techniques. In this, the figure, his favourite depiction of the innocent kampung girl, is larger than usual in terms of perspective with Pulau Perhentian in the backdrop. In placing her looking outside the left edge, a certain “lopsided” feeling is created, probably insinuating some emotional insecurity.

The work, which presages his Floating World Series (2003) and Silent Conversation Series (2005), was donated for a charity event to raise funds for the Aceh earthquake victims.