New cat art collectibles from Catmasutra!

Collect all 5 elements from the catmaSutra 'Enlightened Series'
(Highly recommended: the keepsake boxes, tile coasters, and framed tiles!)

The modern world is never about balance. It's the imbalance that makes her go round. The world is huge, but we want to squeeze everything into the palms of our hand. And we call it a good thing. We used to play in the rain out in the open, now young children are glued to their PSPs. There's no way we can find balance in the modern world, as she sells us another version of "balance" on her terms. There's always another version.

When we lose our balance, we try to plan for the future, set new year resolutions... plan to give ourselves more time (which is a near impossibility sometimes). Truth is we can never find balance out there. No matter how we plan, we just can't seem to get the balance right. So stop. Just be with yourself for a while (forget about the world) and breathe. Haha ;) The best way to prepare for the future is to take care of the present. When we stop chasing the future, we realize we're actually good right here in the present moment. If we can't stay still; if we can't stop awhile, we would already have missed our appointment with life. You can never find a way that'll lead you to balance, peace or happiness. Balance, peace or happiness are themselves the way. All we have is our inner compass. Everything points to the present. Live. Live in the present.

Water for
an overwhelmingly 'earthy' year
with the ox being an earth animal,
and this being an earth year...

;)

Singapore Art Exhibition - The Enlightened Series - Fire

There was quite a bit of research that goes into these 5 paintings. I was looking for ways to represent the five elements, and in a way, imbue the paintings with the qualities of each element. Fire is an element that is filled with energy, resonating with qualities of dynamism, strength and persistence. It is very active and vibrant, and it moves outward, expanding with the potential of going into full bloom, energised by the colour red (which is associated with extreme luck). It is associated with fame and good name, and the way of making one visible in the world. It is the flame that provides warmth, creativity and enthusiasm. And there's the fire from the heart as everything external is a reflection of the internal. And for strength and solidity, the abstraction of a stone statue of Buddha meditating, igniting the flame of fire.

As it is, the 5 elements are more phases or dynamic states of change, and as always, balance is key. An excess of fire can also burn in the destructive cycle, resulting in aggression, impatience, anger or impulsive behaviour. Our sense of self or the way the world plays out for us is a play of patterns. Each stage is always a phase, transient and ever changing; when we're caught up in it, we never believe it to be so. ;) haha It's only when the phase has taken its turn, that we look back and realise that it has passed. And with that, we get older and hopefully wiser ;) wahahahaha... More on the other paintings soon...

CATMASUTRA - THE ENLIGHTENED SERIES

4th - 19th JUNE 2008
@ ARTOHOLIC GALLERY
422 joo chiat road

Opening Hours:
monday-friday: 12pm - 7pm
saturday : 10am - 9pm

Paintings will be displayed till 19 June 2008

;)

Catmasutra - The Enlightened Series

One (2007)

A little entry of my next exhibition, Catmasutra - The Enlightened Series. It's an extension of the Buddha series, which has been a recurring theme through the years. It will be held at Artoholic Gallery at Joo Chiat Road in June. I guess it's a kind of natural progression, moving into specific themes for my solo shows as I go along. The annual Catmasutra exhibition at Utterly Art will probably be the only one that is "open-ended".

Cat's Sutra(2006)

For the Enlightened Series, I'm presenting the cheeky Catmasutra cats in meditative and mystical settings, with foundational ideas based on Asian philosophical traditions, notably Buddhism, Zen and Taoism. The trademark eyes-wide-shut and ear-to-ear grin of the Catmasutra cats symbolize the spark that we all have; all we need to realize this is to be present in the here and now, and not caught up in past or future. The spark is always there, half a breath away;)

Cat Om (Aug 2005)

One of the first ideas that crop up (haha nope, it's not another Buddha painting), was "Wu Xing" or the 5 elements or phases in Chinese thought - Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood. Everything moves and changes - that is the universal truth. We are all living in a constant process of beginnings and endings. Every moment, if you stay still enough, is a letting go of the old and a rebirth of the new. It's unstoppable, from our breath to feelings, thoughts to mental images. They arise and fall away, sometimes naturally, and sometimes we try to hold on to things that have already ended. Either way, there is always an opportunity to learn something new haha ;)

Peace Accord II (July 2005)

So if we are able to see the different cycles (whatever they might be), we can be more attuned to the process of creation and harmony. Sometimes, you wonder why we are so caught up in little things that really don't mean much at all haha! So here's the productive cycle or cycle of life based on laws of mutual support, and restraint. Through the adjustment of Wu Xing, we can maintain or recover normal conditions as we turn the wheel to another cycle of change.


Water nourishes trees and produces wood. Wood acts as a fuel for Fire, which burns to produce ash (earth). Earth produces metal deep within its core; metal collects water and the cycle repeats... And so it goes... ;)

View slide show of these paintings at Artoholic Gallery website

;)