The painting “The Resurrection of Christ” finally came into being after a month's hard work. About one or two weeks upon completion, Karen Lim (ex-Assistant Curator of SAM who curated our “Feed the Birds” show) called me up and mentioned about a Japanese friend/art collector - Mr Inoyama - interested to view my artworks. I gladly welcomed them to my brother’s place, and to my great surprise, Mr Inoyama actually liked and offered to buy a couple of my artworks, including “The Resurrection of Christ”! I mentioned that this work was intended for an exhibition in conjunction with some Christian Arts event, but he graciously agreed to let me exhibit the work first, then have it sent to his place when the exhibition was over.
However, this painting did not get to be exhibited as intended eventually… The pastor who organized the event felt I had portrayed Jesus Christ too Chinese-looking, and not Jewish-like enough, hence rejected my artwork for show... One could imagine how disappointed I had been then, after all the efforts I put in – painting with all my heart and soul…
Nevertheless, this work was finally sold to appreciative Mr Inoyama, who in turn donated to the Singapore Art Museum as permanent collection after a few years. It had always been my desire to share this artwork with a greater audience, and my dream came true when SAM held an exhibition on Mr Inoyama’s donated collection, featuring “The Resurrection of Christ” in it too. I witnessed how God mightily brought this artwork to light in the whole process, and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to God for His faithfulness, and to all those who have helped me in one way or another to make this artwork possible!
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