John J Mathis CV

John J MATHIS moved to China from the US in 2003, then to Singapore in 2009. Through the decades, he has worked in different industries, from meat and plastics to advertising in dozens of countries. For Mathis, art is intensely personal – a therapeutic bonding force with his daughter after his wife's passing. Following early experiments in watercolour, coloured pencils, and collage, he discovered lino printmaking to be an ideal medium for telling the stories of their shared adventures.

This series celebrates the renowned food culture of Singapore – from the unforgettable flavours of its iconic dishes to their emblematic settings, be they old-school shops or hawker centres, where people from all walks of life stand together in long queues and sit shoulder-to-shoulder to partake of the affordable comfort dishes made by food sellers, who quietly do the hard work of feeding the nation over the decades. The difficulties created by the pandemic situation have put their continued survival into focus, and this series pays homage to the hard work and standout achievements of the food sellers and hawkers of Singapore.