Script by Stella Kon

Poh has been an artist, an art educator and a commissioned Singapore Post stamp designer for 50 years. Poh Siew Wah is a Singaporean artist known for his powerful abstract expressionistic styled paintings themed to Singapore and Southeast Asian landscapes. His Rhythmic Exuberance series of paintings also form the main theme for the interiors of the Farrer Park MRT station.

Born in Singapore, Poh first received his art education in Gan Eng Seng Secondary School where he was taught by his teachers, artist S.

Namasivayam and Yeong Ah Soo, both  encouraging the young Poh to experiment with various art mediums. In 1967, Poh entered the Teacher's Training College, majoring in art education. Even then, this earnestness to experiment in his art-making followed him through college, which opened up his mind to newer techniques and ideas in art. Poh graduated from the college in 1970 and taught art with various schools in Singapore.

Poh is a self-taught artist and inspired by works of the Impressionists and Cubism, which led him to develop his unique style exploring ideas about nature. His major influence came from the works by Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies and helped to embark Poh's personal journey into abstract art and free-form expression works of art in ink.

Hong Sek Chern | 洪雪珍 (b. 1967, Singapore) is recognised for her Chinese ink paintings of urban landscapes. Her works explore the

tension between the old and the new, and notions of time and space through the juxtaposition of urban structures from different eras and places.

Hong was trained in education in the late 1980s and early 1990s before pursuing a formal education in art. She graduated with Diploma in Fine Arts from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (1995) and Master of Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1998). She also holds a Masters degree in Southeast Asian Studies from the National

University of Singapore (2004).

Hong has won much recognition for her art. One of her earliest achievements was winning the first prize (representational category) in

Singapore Telecoms’ Expressions in Art contest in 1995. In the same year, she also won the top prize for the Philippe Charriol Foundation

Contemporary Art Competition. Other important awards include the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award (2000) and the grand prize for the 26th UOB Painting of the Year (2007). 

Hong has shown her art in 8 solo exhibitions in Singapore, and numerous group exhibitions locally and overseas. Prominent exhibitions which have presented her work include  the President’s Young Talents, Singapore Art Museum (2001), the São Paulo Biennale,

Brazil (2002), the Heartland Karuizawa Drawing Biennale at the Japan Wakita Museum for Art Tokyo (2005), and the 5th International Ink

Painting Biennial of Shenzhen (2006). 

Hong’s works are in the collections of the Singapore Art Museum, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, National Arts Council and Singtel.

Born in Singapore in 1966, Chua Say Hua is a recipient of the Chen Chong Swee Scholarship and the Philippe Chariol Foundation Scholarship. He graduated with a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (1989-92) and furthered his art education at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1993-94) as well as the Goldsmiths College, University of London (1996-97). Chua did his art residency at Vermont Studio Centre, Johnson, USA and has won numerous top awards in art competitions in the past decades. In 2001, he was awarded the prestigious Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council. In 2014, he won a Silver award in the 33rd UOB Painting of the Year Competition. He has exhibited his artworks in 12 solo exhibitions and over 20 groups exhibitions and his artworks are collected in many government offices and by private collectors. 

Chua has always straddled his art practices in between Eastern and Western art combining the best of both cultures at ease. His unique contemporary Chinese ink paintings are informed by Western Modernist aesthetics while employing the logic and philosophy of traditional Chinese ink painting medium. Chua specializes in abstract compositions, deriving a fascinating collection of works based on contemporary subjects like urban landscapes and old buildings.