Loy Chye Chuan

Infobox Artist
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name = Loy Chye Chuan (黎才专)

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birthdate = Birth year and age|1940
location = Muar, Johor Bahru
Malaysia
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nationality = Singaporean
field = Watercolor
training = Self-taught
movement = Realism (visual arts)
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influenced by =Lim Cheng Hoe
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awards =1962: 3rd prize, Singapore Inter-School Art Competition
1987: Merit prize, "Clean River, Singapore” Art Competition
1989: First prize, Sentosa Art competition, Singapore

Loy Chye Chuan (zh-sp|s=黎才专|p= Lí CáiZhuān), also known by his moniker (zh-sp|s=镐源|p= Gǎo Yuán), is a Singaporean watercolourist known for his superb renderings and his unique philosophical messages in his watercolor paintings. He is also one of the founding members of the Singapore Watercolour Society.

Loy was born in Muar, Malaysia and migrated to Singapore with his family after the end of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. Though his family was poor and could not afford him an education at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Loy's deep interest in fine arts never waivered and often made efforts to visit every art exhibition in town. In 1959 Loy met prominent Singaporean watercolourist Lim Cheng Hoe, who had no less than encouraging words for the 19-year old to take up the craft. As Lim was also a self-taught artist, Loy was inspired to become a successful artist himself. With the ambition Loy began to learn to paint by trial and error plein air, using outdoor sceneries as subjects for his paintings. The constant glare from the sun and the reflection from the white watercolour paper, soon took a toll on his eyes and in 1974 he had to give up his love of painting to recuperate from his ailment.

In 1982, Loy resumed his love for painting as a professional artist. He avoided painting outdoors, and explored philosophy in his paintings with using reference photographs that he took on his excursions on the streets of Singapore, and overseas. This new art concept also enabled him to widen his creative spectrum, mixing and matching scenes and objects under different lighting and conditions, to create the best composition for his uniquely-themed paintings.

Loy takes pride in painting artworks that deliver a moral message or a reality in life - a "tour guide to life's meaning". This quality comes with his discipline and emphasis on good artistic values, and the ability to express the inner emotions of the artist. To him, creating meaningful artworks that can educate the masses, means more to him than to create works of art that are profitable. He also saw the importance of an artist's role as historians, that besides accurate rendering paintings created by artists bring out the life of the old buildings / scenes of old Singapore. This to him, is more valuable than having accurate, but lifeless photographs. As an art teacher, he continues to instill these qualities to his students, encouraging them to be diligent and to create each artwork to the best of their own abilities.

Loy's art continues to be highly-sought after by many art lovers. He has held key positions in the Watercolour Society Committee, and as the Society's General Secretary between 1995 and 1996. He also served as an Executive Committee Member of the Society of Chinese Artists, and as a member of the World Watercolour Society, and an Honorary Member of the Victorian Watercolour Society in Australia.

Major exhibitions

References

*citation|last=Chye Chuan|first=Loy|title=The artist as a tour guide to meaning|journal=International Artist|issue=45|date=October/November 2005|year=2005|pages=56-64