About
Art as therapy.
Ann Png learnt Chinese art and calligraphy from the age of 24. She began exploring the world of Western art 10 years ago, and now primarily uses acrylic and oil as her medium today.
Ann Png’s art is imbued with her reflections on life, God, faith, and suffering. She contemplates her experiences and the mysteries of the inner self in abstractions of lines, colours, and shapes, combining early influences from Chinese art as well as from Western and especially Impressionist styles in her later years.
Largely influenced by her faith and reading of Chinese philosophy, Ann Png’s art has a unique ability to provoke and allure her audiences with a palpable depth of feeling and thought. Her art is dialogue and connection with its viewers, bringing them into deeper reflection on their experiences with themselves, others, and the world.
From 14-24 March 2019, Ann Png exhibited her and her students’ work at The Inner Being: Dot, Line, Page, which she co-organised with her students. She also participated in the Bless Asia Exhibition from 10-20 October 2019, showcasing her art together with artists from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Canada. In 2017, Ann Png also designed a series of art cards for local singer-songwriter Jean Tan’s EP, Hideaway.
Self Portrait: Q&A with Ann
谈一谈你的绘画艺术创作理念
Let’s talk about your approach to and philosophy about art, and painting
绘画艺术创作于我来说是整合内在自我的思维方式，它恰好是以绘画的形式进行和呈现。
Art is a representation and consolidation of one’s deepest, innermost self. Art, and painting, allows one to express that self, and to give it form.
为何是绘画艺术？
Why paint?
以表现和表达的体验来说，绘画艺术是更直接，更能表现实质和瞬间的感动。 我选择了绘画，或者应该这么说，是绘画艺术选择了我。它更能表达现在的我的状况；就如我曾经选择文字创作一样。
Painting can, in very direct terms, express the emotions of the moment. I used to write a lot more, but I find painting most powerful in enabling my expression in present day. While I chose to paint; in a way, painting drew me near, too.
谈一谈你的创作过程？What is your creative process like?
很难单单把创作过程归属于感情宣泄的表现，或是理性绘画技术的建构。它是长时间感性的积淀，也是电光火石间情感的触碰；它是理性的整合和构思，也是线条和颜色温度的呈现。
For me, creating art doesn’t just involve just a capturing of momentary sentiment; neither is it only a process of rational composition and technique. The creative process involves both the heart and mind: it is borne out of years of feeling, channeled into sudden sparks of emotion, as well as an intentional and thoughtful assembly of concepts, lines, and colours into a coherent form of expression.
你好像不太解释或说明你的画作，为什么？
You don’t seem to explain your works in detail. Why is this so?
说明和解释自己的画作，绝对能让观者更容易理解画家的本意和想表达的内涵。 然而，以我个人的创作历程和画作的习惯，所想表现的不是既定的印象，也不是眼见的一切；乃是心中所感受的；比如一幅画，线条构图异常简单，题为“隐“，不加多解释和说明，只提供一个方向，至于是怎样的隐，为何要隐，隐的境界，隐的得着和失去等等，则有待观者自己去感受去发现去创造；藉此与观者产生多维度的碰撞和共鸣。 不需过多解释；我只需要一双眼睛。
While explaining one’s artwork would certainly help viewers understand the artist’s intention and inspiration better, my personal preference with my own art is to leave most of the interpretation to the viewer. Through my artwork, I hope to express not just an idea or literal representation of concepts, but to facilitate emotion and connection between the viewer and the masterpiece. For example, in one of my pieces called ‘Hidden’, a few abstract representations and lines are accompanied with a brief caption, providing only a broad direction for the viewer to interpret the theme: as to what is hidden, why there is a need for something to be hidden, the hidden worlds represented through the art, and the gains and losses with what is being hidden – all make for constructive introspection and imagination on the part of the viewer; this allows not just viewer agency, but fosters greater connection and understanding too.
你绘画的灵感和题材取自哪里？
Where do you get your inspiration from?
艺术绝非空中楼阁，它来自生活，也回归于生活。题材和灵感是取之不竭的。 因为我之所以是我，是经历岁月的沉淀和累积；是我曾经读过的书；听过的乐曲；拜访过的一片群山；或蔚蓝得令人难忘的大海；或是深夜思考但没有答案的问题；更是磕磕绊绊数十年无奈与隐忍的经历；它可以是黑暗的窄道和彼岸的微光；是哀愁与美丽；是冷漠与激情，各种不想退让也不想苟且的存在的张力碰撞和结合；这种种体验终需要一个出口，它是一种从发散式思维到聚合式思维的内在整合和呈现吧。当然，它可以是写作，是舞蹈，是绘画，是雕刻。
Art does not come from a vacuum; it often draws its material from life, and also gives back to life. As such, inspiration is endless. My influences are a combination of: my own life experiences, stacked over the years; my collection of books; musical references; the natural landscapes I’ve seen in my travels; musing on life’s many questions, deep into the night; the dark, narrow alleyways of hardship and bright corners of breakthrough; the sorrows, beauty, and passions of existence; the vicissitudes of pushing on and letting go, bringing tensions of all sorts to bear. These find their way into my art, as a form of release, reflection, and consolidation: a harmonisation of different worlds and experiences.