On Common GROUND

22 April – 20 May 2017

On Common Ground is an inaugural solo exhibition showcasing the latest printmaking works and paintings by local artist Chen Shitong.

On Common Ground features a new series of works that throws our surroundings into sharp relief. Playing homage to the ever-changing ground surface of Singapore, where everyday, mundane things such as walking on the returned pavement are often taken for granted, Chen seeks to present the beauty of the ground by using printmaking as a primary medium of expression. This series puts the spotlight both on people from different walks of life who play different roles in our society, and the singular chorus of the nation, where each individual offers a unique tenor to the country’s well-being and a distinctive imprint on its social geographical terrain.

The printmaking works in this series are created using collagraphy, a printing method that Chen has been experimenting with in recent years to create works rich in texture and color. In conjunction with these prints, this exhibition will also showcase a series of paintings, a medium that Chen returned to after some years of hiatus. On Common Ground challenges the artist to strike a balance between the two media, in a way as to find a common ground between chance and will, translation and direct expression, external forces, and self-determination.

Inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings and in particular Zhang Zeduan’s Song dynasty masterpiece Along the River During the Qingming Festival, Chen’s works present panoramic scenes of small figures set against expansive landscapes. This characteristic play of scale and balance serves to highlight a sense of vastness, evoking a Zen sense of peace and tranquillity. The energy in and between nature and people is transmuted unto these aesthetic, pseudo-archaeological artifacts via an interplay between dimensions, colors, and layers in Chen’s carefully constructed palimpsests, etching for all posterity fragments of how people and things once fit within the larger scheme of nature, history, and society.