Born in 1936, Thomas Yeo graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1960. He then studied in Chelsea School of Art and Hammersmith College of Art and Architecture in London. Since then, Yeo has participated in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions and in 1984, he was awarded the Cultural Medallion. Painted before Yeo pursued further studies in United Kingdom, this early watercolour work provides an interesting insight into Yeo’s artistic practice. The layering of translucent interlocking planes and the grid-like structures on the right show a clear influence of cubism and reveal the artist’s lifelong concerns with the depiction of pictorial space and abstraction. Using mainly cool, muted colours on the side, Yeo draws the viewer’s attention to the centre of the painting with warm colours, where the main activity is taking place.
