Interview with Gloria Keh
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND YOUR ARTWORK?
Unconventional. I am fond of trying out new things, techniques and dont care for following rules and going by the book. I paint according to my moods. I believe in thinking outside the box, and in the freedom that art presents.
In my regular life, I often tow the line because of prevailing strict government laws and typical Old Asian styled conditioning. So in my work, I throw caution to the wind, and if people don’t care for my art, tough.
They probably dont get it, and it is their loss.
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT BEGINNING A NEW PIECE? DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA IN MIND, OR DO YOU START WORKING WITH MATERIALS OR SKETCHES TO FIND THE DEPARTURE POINT?
A bit of both really. If I am working on a piece to cater to a particular theme and that theme is new to me, I might make a couple of sketches, but I prefer to just mull over the theme, subject matter. I contemplate on the work and inevitably ideas will come. These ideas are already out there - they are around us as well as within us - we just have to connect with these ideas and tap into them. Then, I approach the painting. I bless it and invoke it. And I paint by intuition. As Picasso observed the painting is far more powerful than the artist...in short, the painting paints itself. I am just its servant: someone has to hold the brush, and clean up after the work is done. That someone is me. I do the painting’s bidding.
WHEN DO YOU THINK YOUR MOST PROLIFIC TIME OF DAY OR WEEK IS?
On weekdays and when I am alone and when there is natural light.
WHAT IS A BARRIER YOU AS AN ARTIST OVERCAME? IS THERE ANYTHING THAT ENABLED YOU TO DEVELOP YOUR WORK AS AN ARTIST IN YOUR LIFE?
Earlier in my life as an artist, it was very important that people liked my art. Selling was essential. As many would attest you are as good as your last sale. With Covid, selling has become a challenge: people are more cautious than ever before about spending money and the luxury of buying art is not a priority. Interestingly, it was Covid that finally helped me cross this barrier of the need to sell. It make me rethink and restrategise.
If not for the support and faith my husband has in my work, I would have failed miserably. Someone has to pick up my art tabs and bring home the bacon. My husband has provided me with the privilege of being able to paint what I want and not paint to please others.
DID YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT YOU WANTED TO CREATE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING?
Yes, the concept may be clear in my mind, and ideas may be there but I believe in the process of the becoming of the work. If I get out of the way, and stay quiet enough to tune in to my inner being, I then see the work unfolding with different eyes. There is great wisdom within us, so why not work together with this innate wisdom, than against it?
WHAT IS THE MEANING OR CREATIVE INSPIRATION FOR YOUR WORK?
WE ARE CURIOUS WHAT THE NARRATIVE OR STORY IS TO WHAT YOU ARE PRODUCING?
My main source of inspiration arises from within me. Exterior things, objects, shapes do certainly influence these inspirations, but the best guidance comes from my inner guru(sanskrit for teacher).
My work, especially my abstracts are often about the human condition, the plight of life. It centers around the metamorphosis of life; and examines the constant changes we engage in our daily lives. It also aims to express freedom.
BESIDES YOUR ARTWORKS,ARE THERE ANY OTHER THINGS IN LIFE THAT YOUR VOICE AS AN ARTIST MAY CONSIDER VITAL OR VALUABLE? WHAT MAKES YOU JOYFUL AND CREATIVE, IN OTHER WORDS:
A: Poetry and music inspire me alot as does Mother Nature. Trees are my muses. The changing shapes of passing clouds spark off new ideas.
Being alone provides the fabric for creativity. I function better in silence. That said, painting and writing poetry makes me happy.
ARE THERE ANY EXHIBITIONS OR PLACES WHERE PEOPLE CAN SEE THESE BEAUTIFUL CREATIONS IN PERSON SOON? ANYTHING ON THE HORIZON?
Exhibitions scheduled for the first six months of 2022 include The Cairo Art Fair; a group show in Tehran, Iran;a biennale at the Philippine National Gallery; an art museum in South Korea; the Nile Festival in Luxor, Egypt; as well as at various venues in France, Portugal, Turkey, Niigata (Japan) and in my home country - Singapore.
