Catmasutra: Painting for different emotions

A little excerpt from youth.sg about Catmasutra - The Enlightened Series...

Who would have known that a creature that meows and purrs can relate to many of our humanly sentiments and even provide calmness within that subconscious mayhem?

“Painting is the passage from the chaos of the emotions to the order of the possible,” so said French painter Balthus. I presume that Catmasutra: Enlightened series creator Paul Koh must have that renowned quote etched in his mind while colouring each canvas. Each painting sheltered in Artoholic Gallery relates to our emotions through the situation faced by a cat and brings us to find solitary, making each paint-daubed canvas appropriate for a different occasion...

Though the cat is plastered with repetitive facial expressions canvas after canvas, its surroundings also draw out the cat’s emotions (and at times, ours too).

After-lunch contentment

As outwardly portrayed by the ‘green grass’ background, this painting seems inspired by the Taoist concept of yin and yang (uniting two total opposites). The Perfect Harmony of the living cat and the dead fish also shows the humanly after-lunch contentment. The cat shows its pleasure on its facial expression and the silhouette of the bird on the ‘grass’ denotes the fantastic feeling most of us have after savouring a delicious meal.

Read the full article by Nisha at youth.sg

Haha... The fish bone is actually a "wish" bone for the cat and it symbolizes our dreams and aspirations. When what we do matches what we dream about, then we're that much closer to happiness, and hence that eyes-wide-shut and ear-to-ear grin;) As long as the fish bone remains within sight and in the heart (or the mouth), the cat is happy. It also means "abundance" in reference to the Chinese greeting "Nian Nian You Yu" (or abundance year after year). "Fish" and "abundance" are pronounced the same way"Yu", but written differently. Of course, here the cat is always well-fed ("soul food") since , as it must be, when we do the things we love...

;)

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Know all things to be like this:

as a magician makes illusions
Of horses, oxen, carts and other things,
Nothing is as it appears.
~Buddha

See No Evil / Morning Cat
...
*You're an artist
who paints both with existence and non.
Shams could help you see who you are,
but remember, You are not your eyes.

Hear No Evil / Afternoon Cat
...
*The waterhole is deep. A thirsty man climbs

a walnut tree growing next to the pool
and drops walnuts one by one into

the beautiful place. He listens carefully
to the sound as they hit and watches

the bubbles. A more rational man gives advice.
"You'll regret doing this. You're so far

from the water that by the time you get down
to gather walnuts, the water will have

carried them away." He replies, "I'm not
here for the walnuts, I want the music

they make when they hit."

Speak No Evil / Evening Cat

...
*A night full of talking that hurts.
my worst held-back secrets: everything
has to do with loving and not loving.

This night will pass.
Then we have work to do.

~*Rumi

CATMASUTRA ~ The Enlightened Series
A solo exhibition by Paul Koh

ARTOHOLIC GALLERY

422 joo chiat road

Paintings will be displayed till 19 June 2008

Opening Hours:

monday-friday: 12pm - 7pm

saturday : 10am - 9pm

;)

These paintings were first inspired by my cat Halo, who when it's too bright, cover her eyes as if asking us to dim the light! Not sure if it's a natural phenomenon but my the other cat Angel has also recently started to do the same. Perhaps he has gotten used to sunglasses...

;)

Catmasutra - The enlightened Series

Here's a little video for my upcoming exhibition on Wednesday, so come on down and explore the mystical side of you in this quirky and 'deep' cat art exhibition. The song's a favorite of mine, "Lived in Bars" by Cat Power.

The rain is free
only in falling...

;)

The Map of Unchartered Occurrences

“We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans. And yet, at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate. It's just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there. Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it were a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn't have expected.” ~ Ben Okri

The Pilgrimage

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours... and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.” ~ Bob Moawad

Kiss Pressed like a flower

"In mysterious ways the heart reveals itself to be like a flower that opens and closes. this is our nature. " ~Jack Kornfield

Just Sitting

“The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.” ~ Epictetus

CATMASUTRA ~ The Enlightened Series
A solo exhibition by Paul Koh

Opening Reception & RSVP:
Wednesday, 4 June 7pm
tel: (65) 6348 7793

ARTOHOLIC GALLERY

422 joo chiat road

Paintings will be displayed till 19 June 2008

Opening Hours:

monday-friday: 12pm - 7pm

saturday : 10am - 9pm

;)

Singapore Art Exhibition - The Enlightened Series - Earth

The earth element was a little more difficult to conceptualize. 'Earth' is a great transformer that serves as a transition between elements. It is both yin and yang, its energy moving inward and centering, drawing all things towards its core, bringing harmony, balance, rootedness and stability. It is associated with earth tones, and yellows, and qualities such as patience, thoughtfulness, hard work and stability. I included in the painting the quality of change, of seeds with the potential to grow below ground, and seeds being scattered above it. The cat lies unperturbed by the cycle of things from the invisible to the visible, secure in the grounding of the roots, and safe in the open palm...


Given today's climate, it has become imperative that we become more aware of our environment and that we take a little more care with Planet Earth. It's getting hotter and hotter, the sea level is rising, the weather patterns are changing, and we are all a part of the problem and the solution. Haha I received a mail in recycled brown envelope from the National Environment Agency, with a tagline reading "Fight Climate Change, Conserve Energy, Save Money". About time the govt launch a campaign! Hopefully, with the 'Save Money' tag, more Singaporeans may begin to sit up and pay attention, and be drawn into the larger environment issue, especially with the recent spate of natural disasters and the tragic loss of lives.

Just saw 'Accuracy of Death' starring Takashi Kaneshiro, and the movie really ends splendidly, tying the whole movie together. So go catch the movie (most women will automatically go watch... maybe it's the dog)...When the Shinagami (the God of death), was asked by the woman he visited what he thought about death, the answer was "nothing special". The woman responded that even though that is true, as we all must die, life is very important to the person who lives it. That got me thinking when I was in Takashimaya today, which is very rare as I don't go to town on Saturdays (too many people). It's like a mad house as if branded stuff are being given out for free, wth queues appearing everywhere. People are lining up just to be able to be in the store to browse at bags and purses! Everybody seems to be lost in their own worlds; to every person, his or her life is so important. Yet, every other person is a stranger and they're almost meangingless to each other. Perhaps, that's why people don't normally see eye to eye. Most people think they're right when little things of conflicts crop up. So many isolated worlds... and yet we are one. We are everything and nothing. We, as everything, can begin to change the world and the only way to change the world is to change ourselves. Just by making a simple commitment to recycle stuff, we're actually changing ourselves and in turn, we're changing things... For better or worse, there's always a choice.

For all the 5 elements' paintings, I devised a "seal" haha that refers to the I Ching, and an abstraction of the Catmasutra emblem/logo based on the ancient Chinese Seal script, together with the Chinese character for the element, and the artist's signature. I'm quite fascinated with the seal script, the way it mimics nature . Earth is represented by three broken lines.

CATMASUTRA - THE ENLIGHTENED SERIES

4th - 19th JUNE 2008@ ARTOHOLIC GALLERY

422 joo chiat road

Opening Hours:

monday-friday: 12pm - 7pm

saturday : 10am - 9pm

;)