"Horizontals I" by Choy Weng Yang

The oil painting, "Horizontals I", by Choy Weng Yang left an indelible impression on me only after my first visit to the National Gallery Singapore. I did not take any photograph of it at first sight though as I had thought that it was too simplistic.

"Horizontals I" by Choy Weng Yang

Back at home after the first visit, I kept thinking of this painting and mistook its title as "Rectangles". Great, here is someone who is into rectangles much like others who have their personal fixations such as squares, circles, birds, clouds, rainbows, origami, sunrises, flowers, fish and cars. 

The rectangles would connote that we come in different sizes (skills, expertise and spheres of influence), colours (preferences, inclinations and gifting) and texture (character, experiences and background). And, that when placed side by side in an assembly, we would form the painting or jigsaw puzzle which represents our community or society.

Upon my second visit, it was the first painting that I sought after. I noticed that there were definitely some squares in it and justified it with the thought that squares can be reckoned as a subset of rectangles; they just happened to have sides of equal length.

When I saw the name tag with "Horizontals" on it, it stumped me momentarily and I had to erase my inaccurate initial perception that the painting was about rectangles.

What about horizontals? Well, once upon a time, people thought that the earth was flat and we would fall off beyond the horizon. That is to say that our existing knowledge may be inaccurate and we need to explore in order to discover more of the things around us and life itself. 

Horizontals could represent one approach or one way of looking at things as a result of our experience, knowledge or personal bias. By keeping an open mind and willingness to assimilate new things, we would then gain a holistic and more complete understanding of things such as history, complex problems, dynamics of interpersonal relationships and politics.

But, horizontals can be good thing. We can rest well lying flat on our bed, sit firmly on a chair and that cup of coffee will stand tall on the table. Horizontals could represent the norm and certainties that help us to relax and enjoy the recreation of life.  

And, I think horizontals could speak of organising our priorities and resources so that our life is like a richly coloured tapestry. Extending this further, it could also mean aligning body, soul and spirit to what God our Creator has called us to be and do; our destiny.