Chng Seok Tin: Drawn through a Press

Hello, my name is Jia Yun, and I am the curator of this exhibition. Welcome to Chng Seok Tin: Drawn Through A Press. Chng is one of Singapore’s most prominent printmakers. Born in 1946, she grew up in an attap house in Kampung Chai Chee. She trained as a teacher and taught Chinese at Tanjong Katong Girls’ School before she earned her diploma in Western painting at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts between 1971 and 1972. Following a Foundation Year at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London, Chng went on to major in printmaking at the Hull College of Higher Education in 1976, which led to further travels around Europe and North America as she honed her craft. In 1986, she made the acquaintance of Brother Joseph McNally, who founded LASALLE College of the Arts. His dedication and passion to the arts convinced Chng to join the school’s teaching faculty, where she headed up the printmaking department. This exhibition showcases Chng’s innovative experiments in printmaking, underpinned by section titles drawn from her published writing, both of which Chng once described as her ‘twin loves’. The works in the passageway and the first part of the gallery focus on Chng’s works while studying in Hull in the United States. It was in these places that Chng was able to draw upon textures and contours of the natural landscape to fuel her printmaking. She was also able to capture the atmospheric experience of elements like water and the flat, open plains of Iowa in the United States. Sandwiched between her sketches and prints is a clear showcase, featuring some of Chng’s working tools, her etching press and printing plates. When you are done, head out of this first section, where the tour will continue.