2023 PAINTINGS






Radio Silence marks a fearless departure in the artist’s embodied

approach to paint and the painted as he queries into the meta-

modern.

Radio Silence augments the sensations evoked by the absence of

communication, exploring the intricacies of this enigmatic concept: the

essence of isolation, uncertainty and reflection inherent in its

namesake. Ong shares, “Where the void between change is a canvas,

silence in a context constantly buzzing with noise, in the absence of

communication, exists an opportunity for profound introspection and

a deeper understanding of experiences perceived”.

These works take up the position of neither painting nor sculpture, but

oscillate between the two. The gestalt of objecthood in Ong’s works

necessitates the meaningful relationship between the observer and

the observed. In understanding what a medium is in its most

rudimentary form, he pares back by layering modest canvases

against geometrically recomposed wooden bars that are pigmented

with LED, as seen in flatline (the space between heartbeats) and a

place for rest.

The exhibition traps paradoxical metaphors within itself; unity and

plurality, totality and fragmentation, purity and ambiguity. Driven by

the challenges and shifts of a practice grounded in formalistic

painting, Radio Silence is Ong’s odyssey of unspoken narratives,

unanswered questions and the static that lies within the silence that

echoes.