Red Torso Ng Eng Teng Nationality: Singaporean. Year: 1992. Medium: Stoneware, pomegranate red glazed. Size: 79 x 30 x 21cm.

Red Torso, 1992 (Fig.31), in pomegranate red, is joyous, sinuous and voluptuous. Works such as this attest to Eng Teng's belief that the great mystery of art is the ability to reveal the unconscious. The erotic energy of this figure is not simply the product of the sculpture's subject matter but is derived from the material process too. Clay is a material which was capable of answering the complex questions that confronted him in the different phases of his work. It can carry the imprint of the artist as one who acts directly to transform the material nature of the medium. It is a traditional medium that can perform the complex task of representation without losing its own nature. The direct, hands-on action of the artist is a crucial requirement for Eng Teng to whom it is important to retain the evidence of material manipulation in its most vivid form.

--Bodies Transformed ch. 4

References

Constance Sheares. Bodies Transformed: Ng Eng Teng in the Nineties. Singapore: NUS Museums/ National University of Singapore, 1999.

This document is part of a joint project of the NUS Museums and the University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore. This image and accompanying text appears here with the kind permission of the NUS Museums.

Last updated: 11 January 2001