PERCEPTION AND DELUSION

ADM Gallery and the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are pleased to announce the premiere of Perception and Delusion, an exciting new collaborative exhibition by Ng Woon Lam and Don Low Chee Mun, curated by Mr. Khoo Cheang Jin, President of Penang Water Colour Society and Signature member of the National Watercolor Society, USA.

The exhibition will feature 15 experimental gestural character paintings by Don Low Chee Mun and 13 watercolour backdrop studies by Ng Woon Lam designed as preproduction images of a potential 3D animation film, together with an impressive 9.6 metre backdrop painting. A highlight of the exhibition will be a video projection demonstrating the fundamentals of brushwork in Chinese ink painting of renowned Singaporean Master Tan Kee Sek, and a live painting performance by the artists.

In their artwork, Ng Woon Lam and Don Low Chee Mun play with ‘perception’ and ‘delusion’, as a way of adding a visceral visual quality that they perceive is lacking in today’s precise, high-definition computer graphics. Don Low Chee Mun states: “In most drawings, the details are kept to a minimum or just the bare essentials. Viewers are given every opportunity to use their imagination to fill in the gaps.”

The combination of Eastern and Western brush techniques enhances visual variations through the optical effects obtained on watercolor paper. Ng Woon Lam says: “I am inspired to experiment using traditional brush works adapted from Chinese ink painting methodology within the 2D animation creating process.”

By exploring traditional Chinese calligraphic technique combined with Western brushwork, the works in Perception and Delusion open up alternative possibilities to combine 3D computer animation and 2D hand drawn watercolour. A fully illustrated catalogue produced by Ng Woon Lam and Don Low Chee Mun accompanies the exhibition.​