Somewhere in mid year 2000, I joined a group of passionate Christian artists to prepare for our very first Christian art exhibition - "Feed the Birds". After months of meetings, delegating responsibilities, praying and of course working hard on our masterpieces, the exhibition finally birthed into being smoothly, by God's grace, at the end of year 2000. During the process, I was blessed with many friendships, including the special one which eventually blossomed into a lifelong relationship with my wife, Shirley. :)
Whilst the "Feed the Birds" exhibition was still on, Shirley invited me, with a few friends, to another exhibition by some overseas artists dealing also on religious themes. Feeling shy and to avoid attention from her friends, I tried to keep my gaze on the artworks on the wall as best as I could.
I soon came across quite a small piece of artwork depicting Jesus Christ, medium unknown, but definitely a detestable piece of work! In it, Jesus was seen sitting on a bed, with nail-pierced hands and legs, and eyes filled with blood-red veins... He seemed to have been portrayed in an overall defeated, depressing pose, as if unable to save himself; let alone saving the world... In the background, there was a small window high up on the wall, and the room was filled with stark emptiness, giving an impression of a prison cell...
Leaving the exhibition hall that day, I thought to myself: should there ever be an opportunity, I hoped to do a painting totally opposite of what I had seen. I wanted to paint an energy-filled, vibrant Jesus Christ, victorious and glorious! This marked the beginning of the journey of my artwork - 'The Resurrection of Christ'...
The Resurrection of Christ, 2001. (courtesy of Singapore Art Museum)
3 comments:
we just went to see your new works at Utterly Art, and then in the midst of writing a post about it, stumbled upon your blog! we really like your work and have been following it for some time - the earlier illustrations, SAM's collection, the "In Thee" pieces and especially "Fruitful John" from today's visit.
Your work has answered some questions i've had for some time about art and the Christian faith...thank you!
(p/s i lifted an image of your earlier painting from the "Singapore Art" site to post. If you would like us to remove it, just let me know.)
- amps (J&Y)
can i know more about your exhibition? isit still on ?
please email me at
arise_n_shine@hotmail.com
thank you
Reply to ampulets and arise:
Thank you for your support! Sorry for replying late as I am held up by some other commitments... ampulets: It is alright with me about my painting lifted onto your post...
arise: The exhibition is over, but you may find out more from Utterly Art Gallery which still has some of my artworks... :)
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