Chong Liew Syn’s paintings had been sitting untouched in her family’s collection for many years. Her son Ken Loh had always wanted to show his mother’s work, but he didn’t have the time or expertise to organize the pieces.
Ken Loh disclosed, “The paintings were stored at our shoplots for many years because I was continuing my father’s business of distributing Chinese medicine across Sarawak. Day in and day out it was just work. I didn’t know how to tidy up the collection, how to kickstart an art show.”
This oil painting titled ‘A Morning Walk’ was painted in 1989.
Future gallery owner Hoan Kee Huang stepped in to help Ken Loh about 10 years ago, offering to assist with the pieces, which Loh thankfully accepted. “We started with the idea of a solo exhibition, but at that time the gallery didn’t exist. It was only in 2021 that Hoan Gallery was established. Everything came together recently for us to hold the exhibition now,” he said.
“Hidden Gems: The Life Works of Chong Liew Syn” opened at Hoan Gallery in Promenade Mall in Kota Samarahan on Jan 19 and will run for eight weeks. It features about 100 of Chong’s nearly 300 paintings, many of which are being shown for the first time.
Loh said the exhibition was the fulfilment of a dream. “This is what my father and mother left me. At first it was a burden. What was I supposed to do with all this art? Was I just to leave them there to get dusty? Art is like us, it ages. If I keep them there and do nothing, I will feel very guilty. So this is a dream come true.”
Chong, who passed away at the age of 50 in 1999, founded the Sarawak Fine Arts School in 1975, the first government-accredited private art institution in the state. Many of Sarawakian artists were produced by her school, while other students went on to careers in industry, politics, and research.
A visitor admiring Chong’s watercolour painting titled ‘Rising Sun’ at the exhibition.
Gallery owner Hoan said the show spanned Chong’s entire career from the 1960s to 1990s, with different mediums, from watercolour to oil and acrylic. Her still life paintings and landscapes were particularly beautiful. Her final piece, painted in 1998, is an oil painting of white blossoms on canvas, which was likely done in a single session.
“Chong’s art pieces, like herself, are full of warmth, honesty and beauty. She’s a master of shading and light. She painted some beautiful sunsets of long-gone riverine scenes and lovingly captured still lifes of humble market produce,” Hoan noted.
Loh said it is easy to recognize the locations in some of Chong’s paintings, including the Satok bridge, Matang and Santubong in Kuching. He said about 60% of the pieces on show are available for sale while the rest will remain in the family’s collection.
In future, he hopes to put on an exhibition displaying the works of Chong and her former students together. “One of the former students who helped to pick the art for this show is now a lab researcher in Boston. So we have different people still in the art realm. Hopefully one day they will come back for a combined exhibition,” he said.
Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, who opened the show, remembered taking art lessons from Chong in his school days and emphasized the importance of preserving her legacy.
“Hidden Gems” is the opening show of Hoan Gallery’s 2024 season. It will be followed by an abstract art show and a showcase by artists David Chew and Joanne Lau respectively.
