About Fluid Abstractions

Paul Koh and Michelle Chang are a unique couple. They paint together in the same space, they admire the same artists and are inspired by their travels together, the same art house films and books. They even give each other advice during their creative process. But, as it turns out, their painting styles are poles apart.

Michelle’s paintings are childlike, naive and colourful; she paints cats, fishes and boats set in surreal landscapes made up of strips and strips of swirls, while Paul’s canvasses are filled with intricately meandering lines “whipped” into a life of their own. The spontaneity of such a process is the very essence of Paul’s style - free form. In fact, the sudden, impulsive whipping of his strokes on carefully textured layers emotionally engages us, simply because it alludes to that mysterious space between matter and spirit. There is a sense of entanglement - of a bizarre knot of colors, and lines all implicated in each other. In abstract terms, Paul’s work strives towards an unresolvable tension that is born of the phenomenal and elemental world, of personal and universal metaphors all whipped into the confines of a blank canvas.

While Paul demonstrates a more intense relationship with his strokes, Michelle on the other hand employs an organized and measured technique. In her works, we see
long swirls of various hues arranged meticulously side by side to reveal the sea and the land. You also get a sense that her subjects have stopped moving (as opposed to Paul’s dramatic depictions) and are striking a pose for you. Michelle takes her time with each work, contemplating for hours on end. Every piece seemed to be carved out from her dreams of exotic lands far from the madding crowd.

But the one thing they both share is a rare affinity of spirit for the love of water & the ocean hence the title of this exhibition, Fluid Abstractions. The paintings, taken as a whole, offer a phenomenology of water & the fluidity of life. They beckon us to be receptive to the flow of things to come.

[In case you’re wondering, the name “Project Mooch” is the name of their website
and the name is inspired by the act of mooching, an exercise their cat, Halo seems to enjoy twenty-four seven].

About Paul

Paul became acquainted with his Muse in June 1999. Swayed by emotions feverish and tender, armed with paintbrushes and acrylic paints, he sought to achieve something he had never attempted before - propose to his then girlfriend with 10 portraits of her.

It was a trying time with only 4 months to the chosen date – 1 October, her birthday. After endless late nights and much snooping around, only 8 paintings were completed but they did the trick where Michelle was concerned!

These 8 portraits called the “Proposal” collection was the focus at Paul’s debut exhibition in Sept 2003 at Republic Polytechnic. His second exhibition called “Project Mooch” was a joint exhibition with Michelle and was held at “Space 21”. Currently 3 of his abstract paintings are on sale at Blue Lotus Fine Art Gallery at 56 College Green Road.

Paul has always been in touch with his artistic nature. Ever since he was a child, he has been illustrating and drawing. His passion for art never left him even as a Creative Director of a leading digital video editing software company, muvee Technolgies. He continues to perceive his professional work with an artistic eye that tends toward the melding of art and technology.

Paul won a ‘distinction’ in the interactive media category of the Singapore Design Award 2000 for Sony’s PlanetMG Website. He also won third prize for his short story “Quivering” at biannual SPH-NAC Short Story Writing Competition, The Golden Point Award 1999.

Paul also judged at several inter-school web page competitions held by East One Cluster secondary schools in 2001. He also produced, art-directed and cowrote a short film for the Singapore Film Festival' 97. Several of his poems can be found in a collection of poems called “A Far Off Place, The National Library of Poetry 1994”.

About Michelle

Michelle is today the Assistant Product Development Manager at Arts Central, MediaCorp TV12 Singapore. She was formerly a radio DJ at Passion99.5FM.

One of her paintings, “Forest Cat” (sold recently) appeared on last year’s series of Christmas cards commissioned by the Cat Welfare Society. She also acted briefly for the stage in the 1990s. One of her most memorable plays was the Singapore Arts Festival 1998 commission piece called “Who’s Afraid Of Chow Yuen Fatt” which saw her acting alongside her favourite actors Lim Kay Tong and Tan Kheng Hua. Michelle was once a stage actress, a TV host for a series of health programmes, an artistic director for a film project and even a stand-up comedienne!.

PHer debut exhibition called “Project Mooch” was held on Nov 27 till 14 Dec 2003, at “Space 21” down at 21 Tanjong Pagar Road.