Saffron is Tow’s microscopic study of the stigma and style of the saffron plant through the medium of cloth. It represents most recent explorations in the abstraction of one’s senses and in her use of unrestrained colour and free expression, taking inspiration from the scents of Asia. Gestural and expressive saturation of rich colours is stippled onto a woven cloth, with the warp and weft of the fabric disrupted and its loose threads hanging freely. The work is viewed with more heightened intensity from the sides and from the front, with the stippled and flecked surface drawing the viewer towards it. Eng Tow was born in Singapore in 1947. She graduated from the Winchester School of Art in Hampshire, with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in 1972. In 1974, Eng Tow received her Master of Arts from Royal College of Art, London. After graduating, Eng Tow worked as a freelance textile designer in London, and lectured at various institutions including the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education, Trent Polytechnic, West Surrey College of Art and Goldsmiths College, UK.
