Hock Tee Tan
Malaysian born Hock Tee Tan is well known as a contemporary figurative painter, printmaker and sculptor.
From a young age he displayed a talent in drawing, and was supported to pursue his passion at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore at eighteen. At twenty two, he was granted a place at West Surrey College of Art to study Graphic design and graduated with a first.
In 2003, following a successful thirty year career in advertising, Tan returned to his passion and focused full time on his art. His recent work concentrates on depicting the female form. Working with different media he has been able to create a diverse range of styles . Oil paintings take form in very subtle blocks of colour that create realistic portrayals, whereas his semi abstract works with Chinese ink and oil pastel utilise strong black line and bold strokes of colour. Many of his pieces have an emphasis on economy of line and display a clear influence from his past career as a graphic designer. The works in Chinese ink, draw on Tan's memory of practicing calligraphy as a child, transforming the female form into Chinese character-esque images. Tan also works with watercolour, gold leaf, neon, and stone.
Tan's work has been exhibited widely in Europe and is held in collections throughout Europe, Asia and America.
