Born in 1942 in Singapore, New York/Singapore-based artist Wong Keen’s art training began under Liu Kang and advanced under Chen Wen Hsi’s mentoring. In 1961 Wong left to study at The Art Students League, New York, and in 1963 received the League’s prestigious Edward G. McDowell Travelling Scholarship to travel and study in Europe. During the 1960s Wong worked hard to establish his professional artistic career in New York, which at the time was home to many key Abstract Expressionist practitioners. He was drawn to Abstract Expressionism for its energetic and spontaneous use of paint to express emotion, while attempting to fuse Chinese ink painting with Western art techniques in his work. This painting is an example from that period: Wong drew on memories of old traditional ink wash and paper art works, seeking to transfer the darkness of the ink and aged appearance of the paper onto the canvas.
