It has been 3 years since i last painted this court behind Kult Yard. with accumulation of leftover exterior paints from various projects that i was able to play & experiment varying methods i’ve learnt & experienced. Many thanks to Kult Yard for always having that openness & trust. The previous floor painting was based on the cracks & aging process of the concrete floor, forming hard-edge abstract compositions. It was done at the time when we were just coming out from the pandemic, some were relearning how to interact at social gatherings while maintaining the safe distancing rules. Many f&b spaces & music venues suffered while others defunct. Fast forward 3 years later, traces of what we’ve experienced seemed to have faded with the paint. perhaps we’ve been conditioned to live in a country’s silo; so as long as we keep up with our end of the bargain to keep the cog running, all shall be grand & there’s no need to bother with geopolitics & humanity outside of our silo. Perhaps we’re all struggling & we’re simply throwing a band aid over our struggles, allowing callouses to build on top of each other. Perhaps we’re learning to set aside our differences, realising that our collective struggle is based on much larger issues that we could work towards dismantling collectively.

With a 2-year lease remaining looming over 195 Pearls Hill Terrace, a gem of a spot where creatives and cultural spaces & activities took over ground-up and organically at the former cantonment police headquarters building. This space literally came to life during the pandemic because people were rethinking & reevaluating their lives. It’d be a shame to relocate all its tenants who have fostered the cultural growth in this area. How long does it take for a tree to grow let alone a forest?

Founders of Kult Yard plays a large part in shaping this cultural hub with its ethos of openness and support towards the arts & creative community. From opening up their walls & spaces for various experimental ventures to live jamming sessions, offering a place for solidarity towards exploration, experimentation & cultural development, regardless of race, religion and nationality. I took a different approach with this floor piece; Evidence of push & pull, marks & strokes, thick paint puddles consuming potholes combined with sheer paint overlays. Celebrating, processing, grieving, contemplating, recollecting my flawed memories and heavy-heartedly questioning all the ambiguities laying ahead.

I was delighted when Singapore Really Really Free Market hosted its 80th session on this painting. It is a movement based on sharing resources, reducing our consumption while caring for and sharing stories with one another. We do it because we love it and sometimes we’re lucky enough to make a living from it.