ART Habens Art Review // Special Issue ART Habens Art Review - Special Issue #89 | Page 28

ART Habens
Tatawa (Wei Tan)
Singapore, Taiwan, London and New
York. Among these cultural clashes and
identity crises I have grown to value the
importance of honouring a personal,
multifaceted truth. So to answer your
second question, the way I relate to the
aesthetic problem is the same way I
relate to my identity crisis – to be
truthful to what you think is beautiful at
the moment and to allow that to change
as often as it likes. In other words the
aesthetic problem to me is always about
temporary, personal likes or dislikes
rather than permanent, universal right or
wrong. My only concern is to find out
what I like today.
My process is largely improvisational.
The only fixed element is the canvas. I
usually have the canvas on the floor. I
choose the first material that catches my
eye – acrylic, ink, gesso or pastels – and
create gestures. I often describe my
process as making soup – I throw raw
ingredients into a pot and stir them up.
First there is a period of mindless
doodling, where I simply purge ideas
onto the canvas with no regard of
composition. As layers accumulate I start
to stir the soup and mould the clay.
Special Issue
Ball Game with Dog
When the canvas becomes too busy I
sometimes wipe a layer of gesso or paint
over all of it. I finish a painting when I
arrive at a satisfying layer – usually
something that surprises me, something
that I did not expect to come from me.
Some paintings may emerge within an
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