Let’s play a game – are the aquatic animals in the following photos real or fake?
'Guppy Love'
'Live Simply'
'Two Sides'
'Bad Hair Day'
'Find Joy in your Life'
If you guessed that they were real, you’re wrong. But we wouldn’t hold it against you – in fact, we’re told that Keng Lye’s works are so life-like that he’s even been accused of animal cruelty. The local artist first started toying with the technique of painting on layers of resin after a friend showed him a video of Japanese painter Riusuke Fukahori, who also creates similar hyper-realistic pieces in the same way.
For his second exhibition at K+ Gallery, Keng is presenting a series of new and increasingly challenging works. For instance, ‘Two Sides’, seems to show fighting fish painted onto resin that’s been poured into glass jars. But the caption reveals that the jars themselves are actually crafted out of resin, too. There are also a few works – including ‘Lucid Dream’ and ‘Bad Hair Day’ – at the back of the gallery that are created in collaboration with Hong Kong ceramic sculptor, Johnson Tsang.
Still don’t believe us that the animals aren’t real? Go and see them for yourself.
K+ Keng Lye is at K+ Gallery until Feb 29.