APRIL 4 — Tang Hon Yin, 67, was a geography teacher in Penang for more the 30 years.  After school hours, his artistic passion was painting but now he does it whenever he likes. He is currently the chairman of the Penang Art Gallery.

For many years he has been producing paintings with Nature as the main subject. His first solo exhibition “Water Margin” was in 1983 in Penang. The collection was later shown in Kuala Lumpur in 1986. His latest series “Silk Road” was shown in 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.

Though he didn’t go to art school but through his many trips abroad, on his own initiative, he adopted two artistic parents, the American artists Mark Rothko and Richard Diebenkom. They were his main inspirations. Tang admired the two artists for their use of colours and shapes and compositions.

Tang states that his artworks are however not about the environment even though Nature is featured prominently. He is interested in the formal artistic ingredients of making a painting; its composition, colours, textures, shapes and lines and how all these elements come together to make a visual contraption of his liking.

Silk Road # 19 is in his characteristic style. This large landscape seems to be a high-angled view (more than 30,000 feet above sea level, perhaps from inside an airplane) of an environment. In this case, from its title, it may be part of the famous Silk Route that the early merchants took from China to the West and vice verse.

This painting shows what looks like the detailed formation of the mountainous terrains of a particular location. There are three patches of white clouds over the brownish land area. He has to first crest the white canvas into the required shape and texture and then sprays colours at a low angle, usually from the floor, onto the canvas using an airbrush-gun. This is a time consuming procedure.

What is important to Tang is to create an image that will intrigue and puzzle the viewers. This painting is not a representation of Nature in Tang’s mind but looking at how beautifully and carefully it had been presented, many will be captivated by it and be unconsciously drawn to notice the grandeur and the sublime beauty of Nature that may have escaped their attention.

Like many artists, Tang is also aiming to be unique. He is also weary of people seeking to find meaning, resemblance and story in his artworks. What you see is what you get — it’s just colours, shapes, textures and lines in combination on canvas — and he believes in his own uniqueness.

Artworks like Tang’s can aid us in some small ways to explore ideas about Nature and perhaps bring changes to our understanding and relationship with our environments. Artists, writers, poets, musicians have always been interested in Nature and played a part in exploring their feelings and ideas about their relationship with it.  Many have done so in their own unique ways.

To some environmentalists, this kind of art is just pleasing to the eye and is two dimensional with a limited point of view. Many who are ecologically inclined would like to see a broader response from artists and the public concerning our environmental issues and conflicts.

However, the aesthetic quality of many artworks of Nature has also contributed to the rapid growth of the appreciation of the environment.

Contact: Tang Hon Yin, 6012-4212151, email: tanghonyin@yahoo.com.au

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.