The horn of a rhinoceros could cure snakebites, hallucinations, typhoid, headaches, carbuncles, vomiting, food poisoning, and “devil possession”. 16th century Chinese pharmacist Li Shi Chen

Revenge of the Rhinoceros

All five of the world’s diverse species of rhinoceros have been brought to the edge of extinction because of human appetite for their distinctive horns.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Gospel of Matthew 7:15, King James Version)

Fables of Aesop also speak of wolves that are mistakenly trusted by shepherds; the moral drawn from these is that one’s basic nature eventually betrays itself.

Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

Why shroud our true malevolent selves in the cowardice of sheepskin and pretend to be a common plebeian when we can instead disguise our fears and insecurities with the aggressive face of the wolf? A girl, naked to the bones, cradles the head of a sheep. She buries her vulnerability underneath the savagery of the wolf.

5×7 inches, graphite on paper.

Heraldry

“The eagle symbolized strength, courage, farsightedness and immortality. It is considered to be the king of the air and the messenger of the highest Gods. Mythologically, it is connected by the Greeks with the God Zeus, by the Romans with Jupiter, by the Germanic tribes with Odin, by the Judeo-Christian scriptures with God, and in Christian art with Saint John the Evangelist.”

5×7 inches drawing, graphite on acidfree cream paper.

Extreme Beauty is a collage of impactful, exaggerated forms built in to a social commentary of the modern world’s notion of beauty. Expect a varied tone and approach to the curatorial for this exhibition ranging from photography, illustrations, mixed media installations to performance art.

Featured Artists: Fadli Rahman & Raudha Raily | Skye Tan & Randolph Tan | Clifford Loh | Sophia Natasha Wei | Debra Raymond | Nataliette Tan | Mhmd Sufian

In Collaboration with: Nabil Aliffi | Joe Rahim & Frederick Lee Couture.

Location: Vue Privee Gallery, 63 Spottiswoode Park Road
Show runs from March 30 at 6:30pm until April 16 at 10:00pm.

RSVP on facebook now!

Featured in:

• Fever Avenue - Extreme Beauty… In the eye of the beholder
• Couture Trooper - A showcase of fashion and art extraordinaire at EXTREME BEAUTY exhibition!
• Culturepush -

Hiss

5×7 inches drawing, graphite on acidfree cream paper.

The Quack

5×7 inches drawing, graphite on acidfree cream paper.

Worthless as Tits on a Turtle

5×7 inches drawing, graphite on acidfree cream paper.

Miss Mastitis

5×7 inches drawing, graphite on acidfree cream paper.

The Trophy

a skeleton & a pair of boobies—man’s most prized possessions!

5×7 inches, graphite on acidfree cream paper.

Batgirl

as we celebrate the beginning of the year of the dragon, i drew a bat. i like to imagine that bats are the distant tinier cousins of dragons, because hello, same kind of wings? despite bats being associated negatively in western culture, in china, the bat is a sign of good luck! HUAT AHHH!!!

Queen of Beasts

in arabic culture, Arab prophets and poets considered the giraffe the “queen of beasts” for what they saw as its delicate features and fragile form, while Eastern sultans prized them as special pets. 3 hours!

first of all i boarded the bus in the wrong direction and only realized it after a quarter of an hour. jumped off as soon as i vaguely recognized part of the landscape. seeing as i was running late, i decided there was no time to bother with buses so i went for my most detested mode of transport — the train. since i really really dislike journeying by train (SMRT ruins lives), i seized the chance to plunge my fingers into my iphone to tweet about the horrendous experience. (i got suffocated by body odour and had my thigh sliced by a paper bag) it wasnt till i was halfway to the east that it hit me that i was supposed to be going west. blaming no one but my own utter idiocy, i backtracked and wondered why was my brain betraying me today.

and so i drew this.

THE CHALICE. 18x18in digital painting.

HIDE. 5x7in graphite on acidfree cream paper.

and a closer look…

here’s a photo i took in munich, germany, of 2 stuffed pigeons.

more of these immortalized creatures.

Tonight, We All Die Young / 24×24in, digital painting.

Hi. here’s a quick illustration that i just finished today. it was inspired by my current favourite song, Save Me by Avenged Sevenfold. it also carries a very subtle political meaning. my country recently concluded what will be known as a watershed parliamentary election. i used to not give two hoots about politics because my country is a false democracy. we have been under the same ruling party for more than half a century. as this was the first time i could exercise my right to vote, and the fact that 82 out of 87 seats would be contested (implying the possibility for real change), i was determined to vote and vote responsibly.

so i took some time to attend rallies, read each party’s manifestos. the process really opened up my eyes to many things which the state-controlled media has hidden from us. i was pretty enraged. (and so were many of my local peers.) to cut a long story short, our government was once anti-establishment, but now many years on, represents the very establishment they were against. (kind of like Animal Farm.) our country seems perfect from the outside. but if you look closely, in the name of progression and economic development, our rulers have seem to lost their moral compass and their touch with reality. the election concluded with a 60-40 win for the patriarchs.

the missing arms represent a state of yielding, of being unable to fend for oneself. the hair is white, the colour of surrender, and also the colour of the dominant party (who are often referred to as the Men in White). she exemplifies the helpless commoner who becomes a victim of the ruling party’s blindness. also, a friend pointed out that the white/black ratio seems to be 60/40. i didn’t partition it with that intention so it must be my subconscious.

(to the peeps around me, especially my dear colleagues: i know yall have had enough of politics from me, but i just cant quit it! hehe)

to be honest, i seem to have my drawing ability handicapped lately. that’s why i haven’t been posting anything new for ages and ages. i have many clear concepts (quite a few political) in my head, but they were all too ambitious and i was lazy and unmotivated and always preferring to curl up in bed with a book… oh well, i hope you like this one.

Tonight, We All Die Young / work-in-progress