Singaporean artist Thomas Yeo is renowned for his abstract landscapes made with gouache or acrylic paint. Trained at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Yeo was mentored by pioneer artist Cheong Soo Pieng. After graduating in 1960, he furthered his education at Chelsea School of Art and Hammersmith College of Art and Architecture in London. During his time in the UK, Yeo experimented with various techniques and artistic mediums in his creative process. This is evident, for instance, in the use of mixed media collages in his early abstract works. Yeo’s works are vital to the development and history of modern art in Singapore.
While Yeo was in the UK, he explored tactility in his mixed media collage works. In Nocturne, texture and colour take centre stage. Using colours of similar tones, Yeo created whirling lines to bring movement to the composition and left imprints to create various textures. Here, Yeo does not create an intimation of a night scene, but the emotions felt while experiencing it.
