CHEONG SOO PIENG (1917-1983)

These Chinese artists who moved to Singapore “…painted what they saw, and somehow what they painted also became the emblems or icons representative of the local Nanyang style…from the perspective of the Chinese diaspora, [there was] ongoing tension between longing for the past, with attempts at rooting [themselves] in the present.” – Ed. Daniel Tham, A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s to 1970s: Dialogues Between Szan Tan and Daniel Tham, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 2013, pg. 23.