Born in 1941 in Malaysia, Tay Chee Toh studied at Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and has a postgraduate degree (Oil Painting) from China. He is the recipient of numerous painting and sculpture awards, and in 1985 Tay was conferred the Government of Singapore’s Cultural Medallion Award.Tay’s work in stainless steel shows a radical response to the challenges of line in art. ‘Nude 1’ fuses both physical agility and perfected balance, from the load-bearing pointe to the subtly arched back of a reclining figure. While ‘Nude 2’ suggests rolling movement, ‘Nude 1’ plays with stilled contortions. Taken together, these two pieces can be read as studies of a single form undergoing dynamic changes. The poetry of Tay's work can be found in the universal quality of his line. The varied explications and presentations of how line moves through space is the domain of Tay's skill and art.
