Clairelynn Uy

The work is in good condition overall, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. Examination under ultraviolet light shows no sign of restoration.
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The intensity conveyed by a colourful central figure and its equally riveting background is the point of interest in Clairelynn Uy’s recent painting The Rise, The More, The Merry. A smiling Buddha floats in pictorial space while industrial looking tentacles behind disrupts the gaiety of his beneficent smile. Uy depicts the figure as he is frequently portrayed: glazed ceramic in vibrant colours. He flashes a wide smile, his berth signifying prosperity and abundance. The Buddha is shown without anchor in space, floating, and hovering above the ground line of the image. Its strong palette places it very close to our field of vision, making us aware of its presence.

The play with visual proximity and distance shifts our attention to the background of the image. While the Buddha is placidly content, the mechanical contraption behind is a restless, wrangling machine.  The image may come to mean many things: the Buddha coin bank that was quite popular when Uy was growing up, the merits of saving for a rainy day, or the luck a Feng Shui icon brings.  The painting represents a familiar trope in Clairelynn Uy’s works: a segment of unfolding narrative, caught in action, stilled by frame, and halted by time. The narrative is simultaneously suggested by the immediate element before us and that which has been obscured from view. In this work, she deploys the visual modes of graphic art and the palpable forms of realism, fusing them in images that draw from everyday life and popular icons.