On 8th of June, a class trip to the National Art Gallery was organized by our lecturer. Countless paintings were displayed in the gallery. There were a few that caught my attention.
Someone Forgotten (Dream and Reality)
by Wong Woan Lee
This was the first piece that caught my eye. It was an oil painting, colored in yellow and brown hues. An old man was laying down on the floor, with his body straight. He was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. His rib bones embedded his skin, which suggests poverty. His eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling. A family photo was laying beside him, just a little out of his reach. To his right, which was our front view, were three men, possibly portrayed by the artist to explain what the old man was doing other than laying down. The three men were staring at three different paintings. The painting on the far left were two little children behind a slightly opened door. They were staring at him with confused eyes as he reached out a hand to grab them. He was seemingly calling out for them. The painting on the far right showed a happy family watching television together. Among the family was the old man. He seemed happy and loved. The old man stared at the picture with heavy shoulders, possibly missing those times. The painting in the middle was like a paint-ception, a term that doesn't exist in the dictionary but formed that morning by my friends and I to refer to a painting inception. The painting in the middle was the view from the left of Wong Woan Lee's painting. It showed the old man laying down on the floor and also the three men staring at the paintings. At the window of the room, were two people staring at the old man laying down, presumably his children. The old man staring at the painting was crouching down, holding his head between his hands.
To me, this painting somewhat portrayed how lonely the man was, and how much he missed his family. It was like what happens to the old folks in Malaysia these days. They raised us with much love when we were little, but when we grow up, we just dump them in the old folk's home, alone and forgotten. That was the reality of the old man in the painting. The paintings that he was staring at were his dreams and longing to be reunited with his family.
Cry Freedom
by Eng Hwee Chu
This painting also caught my attention in the midst of hundreds of others. It was most fantasy-like. The painting centralized a girl with red skin and black hair. She was being tied to, back-to-back with another image of her, but this time in black. The girl in black was seemingly trying to break free from the bondage. At the bottom left corner of the painting was a man in white. He looked excited and full of joy. The background of this painting was dark and full of abstracts.
I'm not really sure what the painting means but what attracted me was the cry for freedom by the black silhouette. Her pain and sadness could be felt even though the artist did not give her a face. She was completely black in color. I felt that it portrayed a hidden desire for freedom whereas the girl in red was a facade that she puts on for the world.
These were the two paintings that caught my interest in the National Art Gallery. All in all, it was an exciting and beneficial trip.
