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.Created the year following ‘Indian Ladies’, ‘Red Aqua Magnum 1003’ displays a marked abstract shift in Tay’s style and imagery. In this batik work the bold colours explode onto the cloth, the fantastical non-figurative forms floating and flying through liquid space. They reflect Tay’s fascination at the time with amoebic and aquatic shapes and forms, inspiring him to create his ‘Aquatic series’ on batik. Of these abstract aquatic works, Tay has said they allowed him the freedom to move on, to evolve. It would mark the turning point in his artistic career.
