Born in 1963 in Singapore, artist Seah Kam Chuan is an accomplished watercolourist, illustrator and educator. He trained at NAFA between 1978 to 1985 and obtained two diplomas in graphic design and applied arts. He also served as the President of Singapore Watercolour Society (SWS) from 2000-2006 and remained as advisor from 2007-2018.
Villages in Vietnam #1 was created in one of his painting sojourns to Vietnam. The scene depicts a village nestled at the foot of a forested mountain surrounded by water where the villagers' main mode of transport to the other side of the mountain was through the cave by boat. The idyll charm of the rural reflected in his direct study of nature offers a fresh and natural vision of the landscape and light. The textures on the left of the painting were a result of the sudden rain midway into their painting session. Seah went on to create the same textures on the other side of the artwork, capturing life as it were, in natural light.