April 20, 2022
An exhibition of John Leong’s works will be held on Saturday 30 April 2022, 8am to 11am and on Sunday 1 May 2022, 11am to 2pm, at Block 742 Bedok Reservoir Road adjacent to the park (S470742). Admission is free and all are welcome.
During the Covid lockdown of 2020 the artist took daily walks around the Bedok Reservoir Park for exercise to stay healthy.
Over a period of time the artist noticed the beauty and bio-diversity of the flora and fauna surrounding the park and was inspired to create ceramic art based on what he observed. The artist also noticed the wild mushrooms that grew at the foot of the trees around the park. Further research lead to the artist’s greater understanding of the importance of fungi in the eco system.
The artist observed that the mushrooms resembled people, they grew in clusters like families or groups of people interacting with one another. This reflected on how the pandemic had impacted our society due to “social distancing” and the revelation that we should not allow “social distancing” to keep us from caring for one another and that we should ensure that the fabric of our society remains strong in spite of the pandemic.
The purpose of this exhibition is to showcase to the public:
1) that positive and good things can come out of a crisis like the Covid pandemic
2) that creativity and inspiration can be derived from seemingly ordinary and mundane objects like mushrooms, grass in the fields, clouds in the sky and ripples in the water
3) the importance of fungi, trees and other plants to our eco-system and the environment
4) the importance of maintaining strong social and family ties in spite of “social distancing”.
John Leong CK 
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