Chua Ek Kay
View from Afar
Ink on paper
89x60cm
1999

Chua saw the landscape paintings he created during his travels as an extension of his street scenes in Singapore. He traveled to places like Surakarta and Yogyakarta in Indonesia, as well as Serbia and Spain, often staying for two to three weeks. Always well-prepared, he brought along a sketchbook, charcoal, Chinese ink, and a few cameras. Since his schedule was usually tight, the cameras allowed him to capture reference material quickly.

Chua believes that landscape painting holds a quiet, profound poetic meaning that can’t be grasped at first glance. His Archipelago series, a natural extension of his landscape work, both builds on and pushes the boundaries of traditional landscape painting. In his Xieyi style, Chua carefully selects key elements to construct his landscapes. However, in the Archipelago series, he adopted a more experimental approach, manipulating ink to create bold contrasts within the composition. He condensed and compressed elements of the real landscape into block shapes, leaving large expanses of negative space that symbolize water and clouds.

The artistic style and imagery are not solely about depicting the islands themselves. Instead, Chua focuses on representing the islands—both real and imagined—and the spatial relationships between them. The primary concern is the emotional or poetic atmosphere created by these spaces, and the calm, contemplative artistic mood that arises from the interplay of positive and negative space.

While the composition of the Archipelago series remains true to the fundamental principles of landscape painting, Chua finds it an extreme exploration of the contrast between positive and negative space.

Chua believes that the true essence of the Archipelago series lies not in the islands as physical forms, but in the abstract concepts they evoke—whether religious, philosophical, or existential. This series deepened his exploration of space, both in terms of visual composition and its broader connotations.