AOTM: Seberang Takir by Yeoh Jin Leng

In the years 1957 to 1962, Yeoh Jin Leng attended the Chelsea School of Art in England. During those years, he developed the simplification approach, in which the descriptive narrative interest gives way to the expressive manner. After his return from Chelsea, Yeoh was posted to the Sultan Sulaiman Secondary School in Kuala Terengganu, where he often rendered the rural landscape and conveyed the organic force of nature through his painting. 

Seberang Takir is an oil painting created by Yeoh Jin Leng in 1964. Yeoh used the simplification approach to represent this small fishing village to the north of Kuala Terengganu, along the South China Sea. With respect to form, Seberang Takir ranges far beyond the initial impression of nature. Yeoh simplified the features of the fishing village and emphasised his emotional response to interpret his own impression of reality by applying more experimental broad brushstrokes. With the elimination of details, the images of the lady and the village in this painting become unclear. 

Yeoh also utilises subjectivism, by applying a non-naturalistic colour. Bright warm colours such as yellow and yellow-orange penetrate from the back view through the village’s spaces and turn into shady spots in the front. The cool colour of the shed in the middle reconciles with the warm colour, creating a comfortable and harmonious feel. However, warm colours still dominate, giving a sense of enthusiasm for the tropical village at Seberang Takir. 

Yeoh Jin Leng draws on inspiration from nature, and renders the local landscape to the point of simplification, with spontaneous exploitation of gesture strokes, to create an impression of inner nature.