artcommune and AC43 Gallery are pleased to present The Story of Two Presses, which delves into the little-known history and collaborative culture of contemporary printmaking in Singapore. Featuring works by Chen Cheng Mei, Chng Seok Tin, Chen Shitong, Chiew Sien Kuan, Chua Chon Hee, Ho E Moi, Nhawfal Juma’at, Nyan Soe, Oh Chai Hoo and Tan Sock Fong, this multi-generational showcase centres on the developments of two specific printmaking workshops helmed by local artists in Singapore - the LASALLE Printing Workshop (in LASALLE College of the Arts) led by Chen Cheng Mei and Chng Seok Tin between the mid-1980s and 1990s, and Pulp Editions founded by Chen Shitong in 2017.
Though operating over 30 years apart, both printers embody the fervent ground-up initiative of local artists whose passion and sacrifices became instrumental in developing the contemporary printmaking scene in Singapore. The Story of Two Presses presents around 30 fine art prints spanning the period of 1980s to 2022, with almost all being produced in these two workshops.
Celebration of Chng Seok Tin’s birthday, circa 1992.
Artists Ho E Moi, Chen Cheng Mei, and Chng Seok Tin (from left to right in the foreground) with students at the LASALLE Printing Workshop in Telok Kurau. Photograph courtesy of Dahlia Osman (2nd from right in the background), student of Chng Seok Tin.
More often than not, a series of small, thoughtful gestures from one or two individuals is all it takes to set forth a course of meaningful developments for an entire community. In 1985, the dedication of Brother Joseph McNally, who founded LASALLE College of the Arts in 1984, was met with an equal measure of selflessness from artist Chen Cheng Mei, who readily helped facilitate the inception of the school’s printmaking department by placing her own newly imported English etching press and print materials in the school’s printing workshop for all students and interested artists to use.
Chen Cheng Mei (b. 1927, Singapore - d. 2020, Singapore) herself was primarily an oil painter who had trained at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (1949-54). While visiting Paris in 1980, she hung out at the renowned Atelier 17 printer owned by Stanley William Hayter and was determined to experiment further with press techniques. This prompted her purchase of an expensive English etching press in 1985 for her personal use. In the early years of the newly-opened LASALLE, Brother McNally had had to contend with limited funds and resources, and Chen Cheng Mei’s generous gestures had allowed the school to run its printmaking department with verve and aptitude. Her informal gifting of the etching press and materials enabled LASALLE to hire Chng Seok Tin (b. 1946, Singapore - d. 2019, Singapore), who had just returned to Singapore after many years of training and experimenting with print techniques in the US, to helm the department in 1985. In the late 80s, Chen Cheng Mei also added an imported German lithograph press to the workshop. Over the years, she continued to donate many print materials including paper, imported plates and acids to the workshop.
As a teacher and mentor, Chng Seok Tin was instrumental in fostering the first of print majors amongst art students in Singapore. For up until the late 80s, printmaking was offered only as an exposure module at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the lessons focused more on woodcut and silkscreen printing. LASALLE was effectively the first art school in Singapore to offer a degree majoring in Print, encouraging a more specialised interest in etching and lithography.
Between 1985 and up till the 2000s, Chen Cheng Mei, Chng Seok Tin and Ho E Moi (also Chen’s sister-in-law) worked often at the LASALLE Printing Workshop to produce their own etchings and lithographs. Several students and graduates from LASALLE who were active members of the Contemporary Printmaking Association, Singapore, such as Tan Sock Fong (b. 1966, Singapore, who was amongst LASALLE’s first batch of print majors), also produced many of their works here. In an informal and organic manner, the LASALLE printing workshop functioned as a fecund space where artists of different backgrounds and styles came together to learn and transfer knowledge, bonded by a common interest to pursue contemporary printmaking as an avenue of expression.
The Story of Two Presses aims to celebrate this uniqueness and spirit embodied by the LASALLE printing workshop with a selection of prints completed by Chen Cheng Mei, Chng Seok Tin, Ho E Moi and Tan Sock Fong in this very space.
Anthologies Unearthed: Still Lifes by Dominic Thian
2 December 2023 – 17 December 2023
AC43 proudly presents Anthologies Unearthed, the debut solo exhibition of young Singapore artist Dominic Thian. Featuring 20 new oil works that explore the motif of flowers within the genre of Still Life, the treatments vary from intimate etudes of local flowers to exercises in aesthetic arrangement. The exhibition officially opens on Saturday, 2 December, 3 – 5pm with the artist in attendance. A special Dialogue session featuring the artist and Eve Hoon, Art Outreach Director (Programmes & Partnerships), will also be held at the gallery on Saturday, 9 December, 3 – 4pm. The dialogue will cover a comprehensive discussion of Dominic’s art and working processes.
Dominic explains that his exhibition title, ‘Anthologies Unearthed’ references two aspects of the word ‘Anthology’: First being the etymological aspect, where the word originally meant ‘a gathering of flowers’ in ancient Greek; second being the modern use of the word, which refers to a significant and eclectic collection of writings and poetry. ‘Unearthed’ refers to the act of representing the oft-unnoticed (and thus buried) motifs in our collective culture and consciousness.
In modern times as it was in ancient days, flowers adorn our ceremonies and rituals. We still use objects — heirlooms, gifts, icons, etc. — to heighten our (physical and symbolic) commitment to each other, whether it be between parent and child, spouses, friends or members of a community. This relationship to the corporeal (as opposed to digital) object is deeply embedded in our humanness and everyday interactions. The flower, as a cultural artefact and artistic motif, potently contains all the complexities of this human-object relationship. In this body of work, Dominic seeks to give tangible expressions to a variety of different emotions and thoughts that characterise one’s inner life. For intimacy and nostalgia, he sought local garden flowers and a loose yet minute rendering of their petals. The choice of flower, the symbolic quality of the objects, and the manner of painting were also carefully considered in other more poignant expositions of the flower motif.
For instance, Roses for Dai Yu was inspired by a specific scene in Cao Xueqin’s (曹雪芹) novel, Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦). In this scene, the mercurial protagonist Lin Daiyu (林黛玉) buries fallen petals in the ground to dispose of them in a dignified way. In the beauty of these fallen petals she finds a metaphor that describes the ineffable longings and trials of her heart. Dai Yu’s elegiac response towards the demise of the once-living flowers is an attempt to converse with the inexpressible while marking the fading of corporeal existence.
For Dominic, Dai Yu’s act of burying the petals is quite analogous to how motifs are sometimes embedded in artistic expressions. A work of art that projects the flower (and/or other selected objects) as a motif becomes an elegy that immortalises both the human-to-object experience as well as the motif itself. However, such laments are easily forgotten; even the simple beauty of a flower can quickly fade from our collective appreciation. Through these paintings, Dominic attempts to ‘unearth’ and rediscover the subtle qualities of the flower within the Still Life genre, encouraging audience to engage beyond the painted objects. According to Dominic, ‘The paintings are executed delicately and tenderly, as I would have been if I were brushing the dirt off some fragile, beautiful treasure buried beneath my feet.’
Arrangement in Red and White I, 2023, Oil on linen, 61 x 56 cm
Roses For Dai Yu, 2023, Oil on linen, 40.6 x 56 cm
Slippers of the Moon Bride, 2023, Oil on linen, 81.3 x 71 cm
Blue Moon Palace, 2023, Oil on linen, 66 x 86.4 cm
Impressions of Home V, 2023, Oil on linen, 35.5 x 20 cm
Arrangement in Red & White III, 2023, Oil on linen, 61 x 56 cm
About the Artist
