Seah Kim Joo: An Overview

Introduction

Seah Kim Joo, another regular participant of the Southeast Asian field trips, drew his inspiration from the traditional medium of batik print. In the I950s, when the Penang-based artist Chuah Thean Teng experimented with representational painting using the batik medium, he drew a following since the manifestation of contemporary themes in a traditional medium was regarded as a direct expression of Nanyang regionalism. It is interesting that Seah brought the pictorial characteristics of Chuah's batik painting back to the oil medium in the 1960s. Log Factory has batik characteristics while Traces of History uses the traditional batik medium to express historic nuances, a quality which also characterises the works of Yeh Chi Wei.

-- Channels & Confluences, chapter 19.

Works

• Log Factory
• Traces of History

References

Kwok Kian Chow. Channels & Confluences: A History of Singapore Art. Singapore: National Heritage Board/Singapore Art Museum, 1996

Last updated: April 2000