Siew Hock Meng 萧学民

Siew Hock Meng 萧学民

Despite low profile and infrequent exposure, Siew Hock Meng’s work is highly regarded in the art circle and is much sought after in the region for his forte in pastel works, oil portraiture and allegorical painting imbued with complex mood and nuanced sensuality. His paintings enjoy especially strong patronage in Indonesia and Taiwan where he often spent months painting on commission.

Siew completed a year of study at the NAFA. Wanting to learn more about the meaning and purpose of art and life than merely how to paint, he started to read aesthetics and philosophy. To find more time to read he abandoned art and went to work as a rubber tapper in Pengerang in Johore and then Kemaman (Trengganu). In Kemaman, his reading led him to Marxist-Leninist literature which he found more appealing than anything he had read. He became interested in politics and joined Labour Party and was an activist making banners, posters and cartoons until the party disbanded a few years later. The experience then contributed immensely to the rich philosophical leanings that continue to underpin his art today.

Siew creates works that are imaginative and thought-provoking, always challenging the viewers to dig deeper into his artistic motivations. His nudes are seductively sensuous often evoking a mystic eroticism especially as characters in legends of Southeast Asia. His keen observations and personal reflections are especially poignant in the many thoughtful and contemplative landscapes of Singapore and other places he has visited.