Sylvia Lee Goh's first
solo exhibition, Two decades of Art 1978 - 1998, From The Heart will
touch your heart. The artist has successfully elevated traditional
Nyonya-Baba emblem to the pictorial world of fine art.
There are books written
on the Nyonyas and Babas of the old British Straits Settlements
of Penang, Singapore and Malacca. They are often tableaux depicting
Nyonya-Baba culture presented by hotels and tourist agencies. Television
Malaysia devotes a special slot for screening of theNyonya and Baba
every week. But for the first time an art exhibition is devoting its main
topic to Nyonya-Baba culture. This is a great moment of pride for
every Nyonya and Baba - to be depicted on canvas and in great
glory and grandeur.
The instant I set
foot in the exhibition hall I knew this is no ordinary art exhibition. There
were 40 paintings altogether, each one about 50" x 50" beautifully and
appropriately framed. Each one a surprisingly delightful composition of vibrant
colour and form emblazoned on canvas. I was fascinated by the aura of beauty
that these paintings transported. I had just left the busy world outside
with all its heat, garish sunligfht, snarling traffic and grim reality. The
next hour I languished in this dreamlike fantasy realm.
Sylvia paints from
the heart. Her main works portray he Peranakan ancestry. These include
Nyonya Alter, Blue Bowl and Koay, Nyonya Koay (Koay Muih), Teh, Chye Koay
and Ang Koo, Rambutans and Nyonya Tray. She does not stingy on paint
but lavish it thick, so that her depiction of Kuih Talam and Kuih Lapis,
for example, stand out deliciously real and inviting the viewer to "eat me".
This is this first time an artist has given any high conceptual value to
the humble kuih. Nyonya Kuih will never taste the same to me again
after this.
Another aspect of
Sylvia's paintings is the human form. Although she revels in the painting
of Nyonyas, I notice a clear absence of Babas. Woman, Oh! Woman I, The
Letter and Woman, Oh! Woman III - Camaraderie are about women in private
communication and we see them through a fine film of mist. If Dreams Come
True and The Red Sarong are among her works I like best. The first
surrealist and mystical, the second romantic, sensuous and simply
beautiful.
Landscape, this is
another one of Sylvia's favourite subject. In her series,Here To-day,
To-morrow Gone, she produces masterpieces done in Genting Highlands and
Lake Cini. However, rather than going out in search of nature, Sylvia creates
her own brand of nature within her own garden. According to Ooi Kok Chuen,
"Sylvia Lee Goh's garden in Taman Seputeh, is a paradise itself" (NST, May
11 1998). With a profusion of Heliconias, Petunias, Lotuses, Keng Hua and
Anthuriums, she has ready material from which draw inspirations. We see foliage
and flowers in all her paintings, be it as foreground, as in The Light
at the End or as background as in her Kuih Muih series. Her
Secret Garden series show off beauty of her reputed idyllic
sanctuary.
Sylvia uses colour
passionately covering her forms with vibrant greens, and blues, yellows and
reds. Red predominates. In her abstract Energy series, she dispenses her
red in all its beautiful tints and hues, daubed with gentle strokes of yellow.
The first time she attempted the abstract form was in 1994 when Petronas
proposed the theme Energy in the annual exhibition of Malaysian Artists'
Association (Persatuan Pelukis Malaysia), Sylvia's effort was so good that
not only Petronas swiftly acquired it, but the stunning result also set the
artist's fraternity to sit up and take a close look.
The Solo Exhibition
is the culmination of 20 years of determination and hard drive backed up
by genuine talent and strong passion for the canvas. In 1985, she joined
the Art and Crafts Guild in Kuala Lumpur. In 986 she was invited to join
the Persatuan Pelukis Malaysia. She had participated in 29 join exhibitions,
two of which were organised by the National Art Gallery to Argentina and
Indonesia. Beijing and Bangkok were other foreign venues.
How did she come about
to have this solo exhibition? Yeah Jin Ling who was then the Chairman of
the Programmes Panel of the National Art Gallery came visiting. As soon as
he set his eyes on Sylvia's works, he remarked "What a body of works! Would
you like an exhibition at the Creative Centre co-sponsored by the National
Art Gallery?"
This set the wheels
in motion and a lot of excitement was generated among people in the art circle
in anticipating her first solo exhibition. Reflecting that enthusiasm, Ooi
Kok Chuen's comment were "much awaited" first "by Sylvia Lee Goh with her
private garden and Peranakan Intisme" (NST, February 1998).
The Exhibition was
opened on Sunday 3 - 24 May 1998. It was officially launched by YB Dato
Sabbaruddin Chik, Minister of Culture, Youth and Tourism of Malaysia.
Sylvia is a warm and
friendly person with a wonderful sense of humour. I sat with her at the entrance
of the exhibition hall and watched her greeting visitors. I learned that
Sylvia has many friends and relatives in Penang. She has a cheerful and outgoing
personality. One of her greatest trills in her life was having the Chief
Minister of Penang, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon to officiate her exhibition in
Penang.
Written by Marie
Lim
Penang.
|
History of
the Artist
Artist's Father
Artist's Mother
Artist's at 10.5 months
May 1948 Mother: Victoria Loo Nee Choon Artist: Sylvia Lee
Brothers: Sidney and Danny Lee
1963 ~ Fiance, Xavier Goh Khen Wah and artist at tarmac of Bayan
Lepas airport, Penang
3 August 1963 at St. Paul's Church, Seremban
Flower girl:
Rosemary Chen
Page boy:
Patrick Chen
1993 Sons: Emil
and Paul Goh |
