About the Artist
About
the Artist
Philip Lee Pang Kee is an architect in professional practice. He has a keen interest in watercolour and paints regularly with various art enthusiasts including Hui-Ann Clan Association Art Group and the Singapore Watercolour Society where he is the Secretary.
He travels widely doing plein-air watercolour and sketches. His Alma mater includes SABS, SJI, CJC, National University of Singapore, Tsing Hua University. Besides holding a B.Arch in Architecture, his practice includes SCDF Registered Inspector (Arch) and Design for Safety (DFS) Professional. He studied the history of art under the tutelage of renowned art historian T.K. Sabapathy at the National University of Singapore.
He subscribes to the principles: Less is more. Simplicity is sophistication. A journey begins boldly with the first step.
ARTIST
EXHIBITIONS
SWS: Singapore Watercolour Society Colour Splash 2021, 2022, 2023
South Korea: Incheon 12th Incheon World Art Exhibition
Australia: Fremantle 2nd International Watercolour Exhibition and Indonesia International Watercolour Exhibition (The 1st Asians Spirit)
Clan Association: Hui Ann Art Exhibitions 2013 to 2024
Spiritual Art: Heart Space Exhibitions 2010 to 2015
When will be my turn?
Hunger.
We don’t know how it feels until we experience it.
Not just waiting for one meal. But, a constant.
If I were born into a different context, the person in the queue could have been me.
The sickly face,
the face of despair,
the face of resignation,
the angry face that suppresses its own anger,
the face where tears are swallowed back.
the suffering child……does a face speak with you?
It is so easy to forget the hungry because it is not my problem.
Or is it?
For the hungry, crumbs, leftovers,… they are my bread.
Literally, my bread of life.
Suffering is a path, a mystery to the Kingdom of God.
Outer poverty is not an end in itself. It should stir us towards inner poverty.
Emptying… to let God be our Bread.
Title: When will be my turn?
Artist: Philip Lee
Medium: Watercolour
Size: 1.2m x 0.3m
BREAD FOR THE WORLD EXHIBITION 2014
With You
This painting may look sombre, but there is a brighter side.
Two young brothers are huddled together in a deserted staircase with a makeshift cardboard home. Without many things that wecall home, shelter, food or protection…., they are nonetheless with one another. Poverty cannot defeat those who have love. The younger brother is probably ill; lying in the arms of the tired but caring brother, who is like Christ to him.
When I am hungry, you feed me.
When I am sick, you nurse me.
When I am lonely, you are by my side.
When I am suffering, you soothe me.
When I am confused, you give me peace.
Even if I may never see through the night,
In your arms, I feel loved,
my brother, my friend.
Beyond food and shelter which are physical needs,
TIME, with our very presence to the needy, means even more.
In the painting, the anatomical size of the head and limbs seem disproportional. Indeed they are and these are the realities of stunted growth due to malnutrition and hunger.
Title: With you
Artist: Philip Lee
Medium: Watercolour
Dimension: 60cm x 75 cm
IF EVERYTHING IS A MIRACLE
If everything is a miracle,
I give thanks, I rejoice.
Blessed be the gift and the giver.
No matter a stone, a flower or a forest stream,
I am also a footprint of my Creator.
This painting is an expression of joy, a hymn to creation.
I envisage St. Francis celebrating the spirit of poverty with St. Clare, with his fraternity behind him and with Brother sun and Sister moon. All dancing to the tune of the universe. To me, the spirit of poverty is to recognize in all things God within and God without.
Joy does not mean the absence of suffering but to see beyond suffering. It is not easy as we are often get caught up with the outer layer of pain when it is only a layer pointing to what is more precious within.
Painting: If everything is a miracle
Artist: Philip Lee
Medium: Watercolour
Dimension: 60cm x 75cm
GRASP
The fingerprint of God is in our life. The divine is in our midst. As much as he is present in our joys, he is also present in our struggles. The potter’s hands, the farmer’s hands, the hands that shake yours, that lift the heavy load, that pull you from the abyss, that tender to the poor, that wash your feet are the guided energies and expressions from the same source. Love. The hand of God empowers our hands to reach out as instruments of love. The same hand that cleans off the dirt is the same hand that wipes away a tear and brings on a smile. The same hands that pray in the temple, in church, in the mosque are ultimately making the same offering to the same divine power.
