GEORGE TOWN – “I often have people telling me, ‘I never thought you were an artist,' but then I tell them I never did, too, it is a surprise to me,” quipped Tina Degreef, the artist behind Sip & Pour: Oh What A Life! as she sauntered past her artwork displayed at G Art Gallery, G Hotel.
Though it is her first solo art exhibition, Tina has been receiving praise for her work that encapsulates nature and culture through colour explosions.
She is a Penang-born woman of many talents. Trained in computer science, she has also made a name for herself as an accomplished baker, chef and jewellery maker. However, she added another skill in her resume when she discovered fluid art, also known as pouring art, just before the movement control order (MCO).
She proceeded to spend almost every waking moment at home creating her pieces in her living room.
Created without any use of a paintbrush, she plays with the watery consistency of acrylic paint using pieces of plastic, a hairdryer and a kitchen torch. Merging chemistry, mathematics and art, she first pours acrylic mixtures on the canvas and manipulates each paint pour by blowing the paint using a hairdryer or swiping it using a piece of plastic. Then she torches it to create cells that give each piece a bubble-like appearance.
The unpredictability of each pour gives a sense of fluidity to the composition, where control and chaos exist in harmonious tandem. Using vivid colours, contrasted by black, white and solid primary colours such as red and blue, it is not unusual for her to use at least eight different colours in a single canvas.
She told The Vibes painting was all she did the past two years during the lockdown as she tried to hone her art and create recipes with the acrylic paint so the consistency of the fluid works to her favour when it is poured onto the canvas.
“There were ones that I painted at the beginning that I had to paint over because I was learning the technique and wasn’t going to keep what I did.
“Sometimes I would scrape everything out and paint over it because canvas can be expensive. I have a whole cupboard full of paintings that I don’t like. But my teacher used to tell me that to be good at something, you need to spend at least 10,000 hours on it to be an expert.
“So that is what I did,” she said.
From the 20 pieces of fluid art hanging at the gallery, almost half of them is an ode to her Peranakan heritage. Her collection includes a triptych named Three Little Nyonyas that showcases designs akin to embroidery often found on the hem of baju kebaya set in the rich coloured foreground.
A stark contrast to the intense tones is a collection of Grandma’s Kebaya, where magenta, lime greens and pinks dance on a white landscape to recreate the lace detailing seen on Nyonya Kebaya pieces.
During her art exhibition showcase, Tina conducted live painting demonstrations, teaching guests how to recreate her works using techniques she has learnt. She also encouraged her audience to give this art technique a hand.
G Art Gallery is showcasing 20 of Tina’s pieces from now until March 21, 2022. A few of her larger pieces have already been snapped up. Her paintings are all available for sale with prices that range from RM350 to RM3,888. – The Vibes, January 22, 2022
