Ground Floor Gallery
Private View: 20th October 7:30 pm
Hundred Years Gallery proudly presents an exhibition of new works by Ripple Root : Liquan Liew and Estella Ng. They make collaborative, carefree works reflecting themes of nature and wildlife.
With ‘The Tide Is Our Guide’ the artists delve into primitivism, with naïve renderings and folkloric scenes that are descriptive and speak of ancient tales. This series pays homage to ancient Southeast Asian traditions of Batik and traditional textile weaving. “Creating these paintings has been an additive process involving surface explorations and pattern-making (the word batik coming from the Indonesian word ‘ambatik’ meaning ‘a cloth with little dots’). We find ourselves looking back on our past, unashamed and inspired. In our re-interpreting Batik, giving it pride of place, we’re keen to have people perceive it as something of relevance in present-day”.
With clarity in terms of theme Ripple Root also wanted some playfulness injected into the pieces. These TIDE paintings are more twisted and wacky as their other paintings go…not just in terms of colour, high-key and electrifying. But with the introduction of portraiture they now have “the primal man, raw and frayed just like the raw canvas….Amidst prehistoric motifs and tribal forms, we are invested in what lies at the heart of what Batik/Folk Art signifies”.
“Back to basics, hunter and gatherer. Prey and predator. The hunting cycle. The mentality every man for himself cannot be more true in this day and age. It makes us slow down, recollect thoughts. Provides a quiet amidst the concrete jungle, of raging tech wars and white noise. Understanding that through it all maintaining a quiet assured confidence is key. Trusting in the process and knowing that that your gut will take you through. Even as life threatens to engulf, to not be shaken by change, to ride the waves and grow organically. Never forcing, always assured”.
Estella NG (b.1991, Singapore), graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, USA, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including solo show, “Pull Shapes” in Philedelphia in her second year of university.
Upon returning home to Singapore she’s worked on several Art projects with Foreign Policy Design Group, and honed her experiences in teaching. From a semester’s stint teaching primary school art at Keming Primary School, to conducting creative workshops for both kids and adults (corporate team bonding for Twitter, Great Eastern), education still plays a huge role in her Art Practice. She recently worked with kids with Cerebral Palsy, putting together an exhibition with them at Objectifs Centre for Photography & Filmmaking this June. The festival is an instalment by Superhero Me, a community initiative kickstarted in 2014, branding done by Ripple Root.
Liquan Liew (b.1986, Malaysia). Formally the Design Director of Foreign Policy Design Group (2013-2016), Liquan is armed with nine years of design industry experience. Noteworthy projects include Super Loco, and branding of the store and café space of the Singapore National Gallery. Before Foreign Policy, he was in Brand Consultancy at EQUUS Design Consultants.
Projects include brand refresh for Raffles Hotel Singapore, luxury hotel’s General Hotel Management (GHM) and ADM for Nanyang Technology University (NTU). He also led the graphic design team at internationally-renowned architecture firm SCDA.Trained in Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. He now does Ripple Root full-time with Estella, operating out of The Fishtank, their Art Gallery space at Ming Arcade.
RIPPLE ROOT works are collaborative, and they operate at the intersection of Art and Design, merging both disciplines to create a discernible pointof-view. Their client work is accessible and always adopts a fresh, light-hearted spin. They often look towards national heritage for sources of inspiration, with Southeast Asian art and folkloric elements playing large roles in terms of imagery and content.
When it comes to Art making, they seek to be as pure as possible, calling forth poetry in the raw and irreverent. Ripple Root depicts scenes from both reality and the subconscious…while dealing with abstraction through bold colour, crazed strokes and pattern. The two develop artworks physically next to each other, taking turns to add to a piece like a game of ‘tag’ — consistently swapping works after each individual has added his/her interpretation.
