One of the most prolific and talented artists in Singapore, Ng Eng Teng produced more than 300 sculptures over a span of 40 years. These included large-scale public sculptures to life-sized and smaller sculptures. His art education started in Singapore as a painting student at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), before continuing his studies in industrial pottery in North Staffordshire College of Technology, England. He went on to study studio pottery in Farnham School of Art and subsequently became a designer in a pottery factory in Ireland for a few years. These various stints equipped him with the necessary technical vocabulary to deal with the 3-dimensional form.Ng, who dealt primarily with the human figure and humanistic themes in his art, believed humanity began with the family foundation and the dynamic relationships between the parents and their children. In ‘Mother and Child’, the action of holding a child is reduced to a simple tube-like shape. The bond is highlighted with the child’s face protected in her mother’s cusp. The visual image of the mother and child speaks volumes of the deep bond that both individuals will share for the rest of their lives.
