Journey to the West

 

Introduction

 

Raymond Lau is an emerging artist in Singapore. It is true that his artistic practice is youthful and recent. Yet it has been eventful and fraught with difficulties. Nevertheless, he has persisted with his ideals and has, over the past five years, produced pictures, which symbolize hard-fought struggles. He is displaying compositions, which project a range of imagery and a variety of formal approaches.

 

The principal interest is with his environment. By the large this leads to the creation of pictures featuring aspects of the urban landscape. Raymond Lau casts his eye on changes wrought in his environment as old settlements are replaced with new ones. In the process, patterns of living are disrupted; and these invariably leave scars on memory. Such effects prompt him to look at the changing present and its consequences on the past.

 

His compositions featuring interiors, facades and streets are tinged with atmospheric colours, which are glowing, resonating and yet strike the eye as being fragmentary and fragile. On the one hand, these images convey life and vitality; on the other hand they hint at habitats that are transient and vulnerable. Attributes such as these impress upon us the unforeseen outcome of change, especially when it is undertaken with little or no regard for ways of living that are deeply rooted in specific places and environments. In Raymond Lau's pictures, the fragments of buildings and the street scenes are stamped with human presence and intervention.

 

He has also produced images of the self periodically. In them he scrutinizes himself; the outcome is not flattering but unsparingly truthful. There are confessional statements and declarations. Of course in presenting aspects of the self to the public in such a forthright manner, Raymond Lau is also rendering himself vulnerable. How will such images be received? What are the consequences of giving the self in public? Of course these are not new questions. However they are very relevant today as increasingly matters related to identity are certain and unstable.

 

In his recent endeavours, Raymond Lau has turned to symbols of monetary wealth and power. He has employed schemes derived from currency denominations in Singapore. When these pictures were publicized, adverse reactions were received from the currency board authorities. These compositions were initially viewed as contravening laws protecting currency from being duplicated or counterfeited. Explanations were painstakingly offered on the grounds that these were art works, which utilized aspects of design derived from currency notes in order to satisfy pictorial or aesthetic intentions.

 

The pictures in this exhibition are compelling; they are by no means perfect in terms of their formal realization. Yet, in viewing them we reflect upon the worlds we have constructed and discarded or neglected. In viewing them we are reminded of the importance of artists who create images leading to deep understanding of ourselves and of our environments. Through his art, Raymond Lau reveals worlds in which human beings retain a delicate relationship with their environments.

 

T.K. Sabapathy