The real kite-runner

Kids, you might like this, but it costs more than your usual kite.

Read on...

----

HIGH ART
Forget canvasses, artist Von Tjong uses kites

Mayo Martin
mayo@mediacorp.com.sg

FOR artist Von Tjong, things are, quite literally, looking up. In her first solo exhibition, the 36-year-old creative director of The Arts House is eschewing traditional canvas paintings hung on gallery walls in favour of a more high-flying medium — kites.

Absolute Van Gogh, which starts next Thursday, will feature around 20 paintings done on huge Japanese kites, which will be hung from the ceiling.

The idea came after she was invited by the Singapore Kite Association to create a piece for last February’s Singapore Kite Festival, held in Punggol Park. The result was a piece inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers series on a Rokkaku kite, which traditionally is painted with the faces of samurai.

“It’s an amazing feeling seeing your painting in the sky. It was like a flying canvas and the sky was my own gallery,” said Tjong.

For the art works on display, Tjong is similarly inspired by the artistic styles of Van Gogh as well as of 20th century Chinese artists Zhang Hongtu and Wu Guanzhong, who are both known to apply Chinese ink painting aesthetics to interpret Western-style paintings and vice versa.

“Wu can use Chinese ink to simplify Western paintings and Zhang can use the styles of Van Gogh and still paint a shan shui (traditional Chinese landscape paintings).”

It’s a challenge that she’s taking up, too, applying Chinese ink techniques to recreate her favourite Van Gogh painting.

“(Sunflowers) was the first painting that attracted me to his work. He had to love something that much to play around and apply the different shades of yellow in one painting. His use of the impasto technique is also very different from (traditional Chinese ink paintings) where you play with the ‘less is more’ concept.”

Tjong revealed that kites were a more expensive material to work with: Each piece costs around $180 compared to $15 for a small canvas.

But it’s not the first time she’s been working on unusual materials. She’s created works on boxes — shoe, gift and mooncake ones — and also makes teddy bears.

Initially a hobby, it became serious when she was commissioned to create a Peranakan series for the Sentosa Shop in 2007.

Seeing her art flying in the sky in an open field is an experience she wants viewers to feel as well. “I can’t transport the sky and field into the gallery premises, but maybe I’ll put fake grass patches on the floor,” she said.

Absolute Van Gogh runs until April 23 at the Arts House Gallery, 1 Old Parliament Lane.

From TODAY, Plus
Thursday, 02-April-2009