‘A Young Girl’ is an early carving by the artist, and is important in terms of historical value as well as being a prime example of the artist’s unique style. During the 1970s, there were very few Singapore artists working in sculpture ; Wee is one of the few Singapore sculptors from this period, and still remains one of Singapore’s most important practitioners in this area. His works are known primarily for having a strong folk culture flavour, and reflects the tradition of carving found in indigenous sculptures across the Southeast Asian region. For this sculpture, Wee used an indigenous Kuweni mango tree trunk which was found in the garden of a relative’s house. He embedded hundreds of steel and copper nails on the lower half of the artwork to heighten the work’s textural effect, creating an inter-play between the shiny surface of the nails against the grain of the wood.
