Even if National Day is well beyond us, that doesn’t mean the festivities have to end. From 16 August to 5 October 2025, STPI is inviting all during the occasion to Material Moves: Revisiting Print & Paper through Han Sai Por, Goh Beng Kwan, Ong Kim Seng & Chua Ek Kay.
Curated by Adele Tan, who also worked on National Gallery’s SG60 programme, this exhibit commemorates the remarkable contributions of these four Cultural Medallion recipients through 53 paper-based works made during their residencies at STPI, including two recent donations to the National Collection.
And true to its name, this collaboration showcases how these pioneering artists, with the space’s creative workshop team, have pushed the boundaries of their practices in sculpture, collage, watercolour, and ink, respectively, to produce entirely new works that are both expressively and emotionally moving during their residencies.
Thus, having had the chance to meet the masterminds behind this exhibition and the insights that shaped their masterpieces, here are the most explorative experiments you can’t afford to miss at Material Moves!
Han Sai Por
Let’s start with Han Sai Por, whose three-dimensional artworks dominate the space beside the exhibition’s introductory panel. Considered one of Singapore’s leading sculptors, Han is also no stranger to painting, particularly when capturing the natural world—a sensibility shaped by a childhood spent near Changi Beach and its surrounding forests.
As such, it was only natural that she would attempt to adapt all three aspects of her artistry into one visual language that brimmed with depth, motion, and organic vitality. And so, by employing hand-moulded paper, relief intaglio collage, and collagraphy, those attempts succeeded, since they produced not one, but two multilayered paintings.
That includes not only Tropical Impression—a swirling scene of frangipanis that she had in her own garden set among lively blue leaves meant to evoke the same vibrancy as sarongs and batik, but also a serene sight from her house, aptly titled River by the Forest.
Through its textured depiction of soft and shrubby trees and the use of negative space to imply the stillness of water, this piece is one of many from Han that prompts its viewers to reflect on how the elements of undisturbed landscapes like these exist within our ever-evolving nation, and whether they can endure as pure nature.
No doubt, the minimalism of River by the Forest is intentional, perhaps to keep its true location elusive. After all, this 16th-floor view also allows her to catch the soft sunlight as rendered here in pastel tones peeking through the forest, so it’s easy to see why she would want a view she considers lucky to have remain, even as the city around her changes.
However, that artistic choice may have been intended to make its local roots harder and hence more meaningful to spot as well, since even in more patriotic pieces like those from her Flower Under The Sun series, it isn’t immediately obvious that they were created for Singapore’s 60th anniversary.
Take the fourth and final variation, for instance, whose yellow canvas and dune-shaped strokes may bring to mind the Sahara. Yet, despite their striking presence, several Asian motifs also exist—albeit less overtly—in the artwork, from the subtle Chinese calligraphy-like splatters, to the signature towering stamen of tropical hibiscuses.
Together, these elements come to form a painting that’s as multifaceted as Singapore’s culture, revealing the true genius of Han’s artistry only to those who are willing to seek it. I just hope the hibiscuses were based on the Bunga Raya, Malaysia’s national flower, since it would be an interesting, if not ironic, detail given that Han experienced the two countries parting ways.
Goh Beng Kwan
The next artist we’ll focus on is Goh Beng Kwan, who is regarded as one of Singapore’s most prominent post-war artists, with a distinctive yet abstract style that he developed in the States. Like Han, Goh strongly appreciates nature, though his craft is shaped by a fascination with urbanism and industrialisation as well.
This can be best seen in his collages, where the methods and media reflect his sensibilities in both the natural and the artificial. However, rather than using a myriad of materials as in his wider oeuvre, Goh leaned into STPI’s specialisation in print and paper during his residency to explore this dichotomy instead, demonstrating his creativity even within such constraints.
And so, no collage captures all of the above better than Lotus, a depiction of the sacred flower using flocking on paper. Specifically, flocking refers to the process of applying countless fibres to an adhesive-coated surface, creating a textured finish.
For Goh, the technique was unforgiving: the order in which the colours were applied had to be exact, as a single wrong combination meant starting over from scratch. Ultimately, however, the effort was well worth it, as beyond the vibrant shades he successfully selected, each layer of Lotus pops out over one another to make for a truly complex composition.
Style-wise, the process also excels at amplifying Goh’s abstract expressionism, subtly aiding the work’s audience in distinguishing where the foreground starts and the background ends through the different depths of each coloured flocking, without giving Goh’s energetic strokes any more objectivity than intended.
But if you think Lotus is abstract, wait until you see Fun Land—a triptych collage comprising acrylic, paper, and coloured pulp on STPI handmade paper, and a work which no photographer can ever do justice.
Much like Lotus, Fun Land employs psychedelic tones and special lighting in its frames, but just on a much larger scale, resulting in an almost bioluminescent or fluorescent collage. Just for reference, I could tell apart its shapes and forms right from the opposite end of the corridor it was affixed to.
Maybe the work’s glow—as you might’ve guessed from my choice of words—is another marker of Goh’s exploration of the fine line between wilderness and civilisation as well, and a clue as to what its contents truly express. But regardless of whether the terrain being referred to is more natural than psychological or vice versa, be sure to check this one out.
Ong Kim Seng
Moving on to Ong Kim Seng, whose portrayals of shifting landscapes are as expressive as his character. A self-taught artist, Ong’s visual style is characterised by a sensitive handling of light, shadow, and colour that has been pivotal in advancing the practice of watercolour painting in Singapore.
Although the avid traveller is well-known for his en plein air works from across the world, Ong surprisingly chose to create solely from memory for his latest residency, thereby capturing a deeply personal vision of the old and disappearing scenes of our nation.
This includes iconic landmarks like Mount Faber, where Goh says he has lived his entire life, playing football at its base during his youth and now training along its jungle trail in his silver years. It’s no wonder, then, that he dedicated an entire series to the hill for this residency, with each seemingly identical sketch featuring its own unique shades à la Warhol’s oeuvre.
From the orange and green of morning to the deep blues and purples of nightfall, each painting beautifully demonstrates how the hues dressing a landscape dramatically affect the emotions it evokes—a lesson Ong likened to, among other examples, the rainbow-hued windows of the Old Hill Street Police Station.
Personally, my favourite variation has to be Moonlight Night at Mt. Faber, with its jade and lavender tones that were based on the more reserved styles of kimono. Once again, the use of negative space shines in another artwork, this time emphasising Mount Faber’s dominance amidst a busy scene and reaffirming Goh’s brilliance in a “less is more” manner.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he can’t be challenged further, and that’s exactly what STPI did by challenging him to paint on mulberry bark paper. At first, the material was so foreign that it forced him to abandon traditional theory altogether. Yet, through extensive trial and error, he persevered regardless, producing gripping pieces like The Village Wayang at Silat Road.
As Goh states, the mulberry bark’s texture adds an overall rough edge to its subject, lending it a historic quality similar to the papyrus hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt and the cave paintings of Tang China. This harsh finish not only complements his renditions of a bygone era to elicit a sense of nostalgia, but also adds great depth to areas of the composition like the trees and ground.
And while it was heartbreaking to hear from Goh about how most of the places and people he passionately portrayed in his paintings have gone in the name of progress, it’s also bittersweet to know that they—along with, perhaps more importantly, his memories—are immortalised in his own fluid, lyrical strokes.
Chua Ek Kay
Finally, let’s turn to Chua Ek Kay, one of Singapore’s most famous ink practitioners. Even if he’s sadly no longer here to join the latest round of residencies with his contemporaries, this exhibit fortunately still marks the first time in decades that two of his rarest paintings will be displayed alongside the final works of his illustrious career.
An artist who was also highly regarded as the bridge between Eastern and Western art, Chua’s unique synthesis of Chinese ink painting, European-American expressionism, and even Australian Aboriginal influences enabled him to creatively capture the fleeting, sensory impressions of his surroundings.
This skill is strikingly evident in one of those rarest paintings where, by incorporating oil and collage techniques on canvas, he presents an abstract artwork that draws its viewers into a state of introspection.
Despite lacking a title or an obvious subject, the few clues Chua offers are highly revealing: among the paper clippings, one mentions “the creative process of building Singapore’s first multidisciplinary and multicultural art centre,” while another appears to be a stylistic rendering of the name “Khairul.”
Now, if you haven’t already pieced this piece together, this untitled artwork references the opening of none other than The Substation in 1990—the same year it was created and when local artist Khairul Anwar Salleh held his first solo exhibition roughly a month after the centre’s launch.
Funnily enough, as Tan notes, it’s not exactly clear why Chua visually name-dropped Khairul here, especially since they were both arguably newcomers to the local scene. But regardless of whether Chua respected Khairul, thought his name looked cool, or a bit of both, it’s clear that The Substation’s opening was one spark that spurred him on till the very end.
And so, as we arrive at the final highlight of Material Moves, we also reach one of Chua’s last artworks: Harvest. This lithograph, etching, and screenprint was made during his transition from ink painting to printmaking and woodcutting, and as a result, it naturally retains elements of both mediums, all seamlessly unified under his semi-abstract style.
Still, beyond serving as another testament to his hybridised visual vocabulary, the work stands as a poignant reminder of how tragically his life was cut short in 2008, a mere year after this work was produced during his STPI residency, which leads to the elephant in the room: how should we view Chua in the context of Material Moves?
Certainly, it’s unfair that time reaped the crops of Chua’s creativity before they could blossom with Han, Goh, and Ong. But then again, would it do us any good to dwell on what could have been, when we can instead celebrate the art he did leave behind?
Should we let this exhibit evoke death in our minds, or should we instead see it as a celebration of life—a Harvest festival to not only Chua, but to all four artists, for all they’ve contributed to the culture of Singapore? That’s a question I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions to, but be warned: you’ll only discover the true answers by visiting the exhibition yourself.
Material Moves: Revisiting Print & Paper through Han Sai Por, Goh Beng Kwan, Ong Kim Seng & Chua Ek Kay
🗓️Date: 16 August to 5 October 2025
📍Location: STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, 41 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238236
💲Price: Free
⏰Time: 10 am to 7 pm from Mondays to Saturdays, 11 am to 5 pm on Sundays
Believe me, there are a lot of masterpieces you simply need to see face-to-face, from the rest of Han’s Flower in the Sun series and Goh’s flocking good creations, to Ong’s portrayals of kampung life and Chua’s stylistic fusions.
So, as you make your way to STPI, be sure to check out their official website and Instagram for more information on Material Moves, as well as past and upcoming exhibitions. With that said, happy belated SG60!
Visuals Courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery.
