This series is inspired by the Biblical narrative of the character Lot, who prompted by the angel to flee with his family from the pending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, was told not to look back at the city – whoever did would be transformed to a pillar of salt. This story has inspired these works on paper which capture vividly a sense of movement and the effect of transformation from flesh to salt. Using a simple material and medium, Woo has communicated successfully the notions of movement and power play, and the idea of transformation.Woo’s works are abstract and heavily conceptual, carrying a sense of spontaneity and movement in them, rather than more commonly conveying scenes of history or social message. Works in this group of abstract painting in Singapore (which have inspired his students like Jeremy Sharma) tend to be heavily influenced by music (often the artists themselves are musicians, and this performative side of them feeds into their paintings too). These artists’ works are characteristically emotive and lyrical, and the resulting works expressive of the artist’s personal interests and personality.
