Malaysian artist Yeo Eng Hin and Singapore-born Chua Chay Hwa first crossed paths as students of Western painting at NAFA in Singapore in the late 1970s, beginning a shared artistic pursuit that has since spanned 5 decades. The pair went on to further their training together in Paris at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, an experience that would anchor their lifelong dedication to painting from direct observation and travel.
Their travels and painting en plein air took them well beyond their home countries into the ancient temple complexes of Cambodia, remote landscapes of Northern China and Malaysian mangrove forests. The exhibition Kismet traces the arc of that journey.
Presenting over 40 paintings in Singapore for the first time, the exhibition opens with Yeo's Fishing Village series, a return to Pulau Ketam (or Crab Island) where he was raised in a wooden stilt house over the mudflats. The paintings are accompanied by an installation of discarded fishing nets that evoke ocean waves and sea foam at the shoreline as a symbol of the interdependence between man and nature. Moving beyond nostalgia, Yeo repurposes these nets as a form of environmental advocacy, drawing attention to issues of marine pollution and overfishing that his hometown continues to confront.
Madam Chua approaches the canvas with a quieter conviction — that nature is her teacher. Many of the exhibited paintings such as Rainbow Beach and Nam Thean Tong exemplify her en plein air practice. The works expand outward through their travels together, capturing not only the natural environments they encountered but also the people and communities that left their mark, each artist drawing distinct meaning from nature and humanity alike.
More than a homecoming, Kismet is also symbolic of the artists’ deep ties with their alma mater. His Excellency Ambassador Sok Khoeun of the Kingdom of Cambodia officiated the opening as the Guest of Honour on 11 June, receiving a gift of painting A New Day at Angkor by Yeo. Chairman of NAFA Board, Ms Low Sin Leng also received a painting Iban and Artist gifted by Chua to the Academy, a fitting gesture from two artists whose lifetime of practice traces back to where it first began.
