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Fah-Cheong Chong, Family


p PAGE 33SUMMER 2011


it was inevitable that he would quickly bring his creative instincts and ability to manipulate his materials to bear on the local wood and stone, such as pine, cedar, fir and alder, Canadian jade, marble and granite. This Canadian chapter of his journey in life has enriched his art. Fah-Cheong’s exploration of the richness of Canadian jade is particularly alluring. In “An Overture”, he has taken two huge jade rocks and ground and polished them to expose the deep greens and smooth, almost silky interior structure (An Overture, 2001, jade). This is carefully juxtaposed and contrasted with the weather-beaten untouched skin of the stone. The sculpture now sits, its strength and beauty reflected in a pool of water, in the historic Tan Yoke Nee House in Singapore. It is testimony to Fah-Cheong’s ability to work masterfully with whatever material he chooses.


Over the thirty-plus years of his career as an artist, he has striven to not only bring out the beauty of the stone, bronze or wood with which he works, but to convey the nature and power of the raw material itself. Nowhere is this more evident than in Fah-Cheong’s abstract works. Standing prominently in front of the University Hall of the National University of Singapore, salmon shapes made of jade leap out of arched bronze water forms, evocative and sensual, capturing the essence of movement. “Reaching Beyond”, is a compelling piece that immortalizes the cycle of the salmon that return


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