Chiew Sien Kuan is a painter and sculptor from Singapore. He graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art from the Academy in 1989. He obtained his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Tasmania, Australia, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education from NTU-NIE, Singapore, in 2008. Chiew is a dedicated educator who taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts for over two decades. Like the previous Singapore pioneer artists who taught at the Academy, he explores and develops a varied body of work, challenging himself to create art that is relevant to the contemporary. His artistic interests include drawing, painting, sculpture, assemblage and installation.

The Iron Bridge alludes to the now defunct Ulu Pandan Railway Bridge, built in 1965, which connected Bukit Timah to Jurong. An infrastructure that was once an industrial icon in Singapore, Chiew considers the bridge a physical and spiritual connector between the past and future. The road below brings the viewer’s attention to a vanishing point in the distance, leading us to the great horizon. The work takes on an industrial appearance by using non-traditional art materials such as cement, enamel paint, and carbon chalk.