Born in Singapore, Tan Thian Joo (b. 1965) graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), majoring in Western arts in 1989. Tan was featured on broadcast media in 2007 under the television series, The Travelling Palette, where he undertook a three-day painting trip to Kukup, Malaysia. In 2000 and 2002, Tan won the Highly Commendable award in the UOB Painting of the Year Competition. Tan was also a recipient of the Dr Tan Tsze Chor Art in 2008.
On this canvas, Tan depicts several military soldier figures and a Chinese chess set. While often perceived as objects of fun, Tan, however, in his deliberate and careful setup, creates a stage of a battle scene. With chess pieces used as military paraphernalia, the miniature figurines distinctly divide themselves with a border. In this scene that contrasts toys with violence, perhaps Tan was attempting to address political and physical tensions in the world satirically. In the middle of the entire composition, Chinese characters transcribe “Han Border” and “Chu River” – commonly marked on Chinese board games.
