The Art of Khik Weng Keat

These paintings by the artist is part of a study based on architecture from September to October 2018. They are primarily based on building paintings done by Vincent Van Gogh. A recreation of  Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen  by Vincent Van Gogh, 1885 A recreation of  Old Church Tower at Nuenen, ('The Peasants' Churchyard')  by Vincent Van Gogh, 1885 A recreation of  The Yellow House ('The Street')  by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888 A recreation of  The Church of Auvers by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890 A recreation of White House at Night by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

Life in the Freezer , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 20" X 16"  The Pleistocene epoch (2.5 million to 11,700 years ago) was marked by at least four ice ages, during which ice sheets spread from north to south, covering much of the northern Hemisphere including Europe, northern Asia and North America. For most animals, the conditions were inhospitable for life, but several large and spectacular animals have evolved adaptations such as thick fur and thick layers of fat to specially suit to the freezing cold conditions of the Pleistocene ice ages. The painting depicts a scene in a tundra landscape in Siberia. Undoubtedly the most famous ice age animal is the woolly mammoth. A distant cousin to the Asian elephant, it weighed six tons and was as tall as the modern-day African elephant. The curved tusks of a woolly mammoth can measure up to 5 meters (16.5 feet) long. It had two layers of fur, where the length of each hair in its winter coat can grow up to a meter long. The fur layers hel...

  Beneath Primal Waves , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 20" X 16"  The painting is based on a postcard drawn by the artist in 2010. It depicts the spectacular marine life in the late Jurassic of Europe. At the time, the oceans were warmer than they are now and just like today sustained a variety of life. The background of the painting is in a shallow sea, near to the coast. The sea floor is filled with sponges and crinoids, also known as sea lilies and are related to starfish. A myriad of unusual invertebrates swam there and have been preserved as fossils. The most notable invertebrates in the clear ancient sea are the ammonites - relatives of squid and cuttlefish with a coiled shell - and the belemnites - squid-like cephalopods with long, bullet-shaped shells. On the ocean floor are a pair of horseshoe crabs, a type of arthropod that existed long before dinosaurs evolved on land, and are still around today. The tiny shrimp-like creatures in the picture are Dollocaris , an ancient ...

  Field of Titans , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 20" X 16" The painting is based on a postcard drawn by the artist in 2010. It depicts a landscape in the late Jurassic period, filled with dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles. The plants in the landscape are characterized by ancient plants such as conifers, horsetails and cycads, as grass and flowering plants had not evolved yet at the time.  The dinosaurs and prehistoric reptiles in the artwork are the long-necked Diplodocus , the carnivorous Allosaurus , the armored Stegosaurus , a pair of Dryosaurus , a small Coelurus and a pair of flying pterosaurs called Harpactognathus .  One of the Diplodocus feeds on the conifer trees while the one in the foreground, a juvenile, defends itself from an Allosaurus . The Stegosaurus watches over a clutch of eggs. The Coelurus had a dragonfly in its jaws.  Harpactognathus is a species of long-tailed pterosaur discovered in the Morrison Formation, known for having a wealth of famou...

Gregarious Glires , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 24" X 31.5" The glires are a family of mammals consisting of rodents and lagomorphs (rabbits, hares, and pikas). Rodents or gnawing mammals are by far the largest mammal group, comprising of around 1700 species, and almost one of every two mammal species in the world is a rodent. About 75 per cent of rodents are mice and rats. Lagomorphs, or "leaping forms", refer to the family's long, muscular back legs which are ideal for running at high speeds for danger. There are at least 50 species of flying squirrel, and most species were found in Asia. The southern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys volans , pictured) is one of three species of flying squirrel found in North America. It is found in deciduous and mixed forests in the eastern half of North America. Flying squirrels glide in the air on furry flaps of skin called patagia (singular: patagium) which are stretched between their front and hind legs. Southern flying squirrels...

  Interspecies Teamwork , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 24" X 24" This painting is inspired by a popular Chinese nursery rhyme about pulling carrots (拔萝卜) . In the painting, six animals help each other to pull a colossal carrot: a hamster, rat, rabbit, monkey, kangaroo and elephant, in a carrot patch. The animals are arranged according to their size, with the hamster, the smallest of the six animals, being the first to pull the carrot and is helped by larger animals in increasing size until the elephant, the largest and strongest of the group, which is placed at the very back.  The artist intends to convey the message of teamwork among different groups, and that many hands make light work, no matter how strong one is.

  Flightless Wonders , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 24" x 31.5" All birds have wings, but not all of them can fly. These birds are mostly big and heavy, with some being the heaviest and tallest birds to walk the earth. They bear various features different to other birds. For example, ratites, the family which contains the ostrich, emu, cassowary and rhea, have downy feathers which lack the smooth, flat, airproof surfaces which other birds have for flying. They have sturdy, strong legs that allow them to run fast. The world's biggest and heaviest bird, the ostrich (left) is also the only bird with just two toes on each foot. It is also the fastest running bird, reaching speeds of up to 60 km per hour (37 mph). There are three species of rhea, which is a type of ostrich-like flightless bird that lives on the plains of Brazil and Argentina in South America. The greater rhea ( Rhea americana , top right) looks like a small ostrich but has more feathers on its neck, larger wings a...

  High-Flying Hunters , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 31.5" X 24" Birds of prey are characterized for their sharp, hooked beaks and curved claws called talons. Most are masterful flyers, able to stay in the air for hours while searching for prey with incredibly sharp vision. There are around 295 species of birds of prey, and they range across a huge variety of habitats, from mountains to rainforests. The golden eagle (top) is often called the "king of birds" throughout its range. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle, ranging throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It hunts small mammals such as rabbits and squirrels as well as small birds. It lives in nests called eyries atop high cliffs, where pairs return to breed or raise their young year after year. For centuries, this species has been one of the most highly regarded birds used in falconry, the activity where humans keep and use birds of prey to hunt. Because of its hunting prowess, the golden eagle is rega...

  Diverse Wildlife , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 31.5" X 24" Malaysia is one of the world’s megadiverse countries. It is also ranked 12th in the world, according to the National Biodiversity Index, which is based on estimates of country richness of life and species endemism. The country is home to over 15,000 species of flowering plants, 1,500 species of terrestrial vertebrates and about 150,000 species of invertebrates. The hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia. The  Hibiscus rosa-sinensis  species comes in a wide range of colors including red, orange, yellow, pink and even purple. The red-colored hibiscus is regarded as the national flower, as the color red represents courage and the five petals symbolize the five principles of the  Rukun Negara . In the painting, four hibiscus flowers are depicted in the colors featured on the Malaysian flag: red, white, blue and yellow. The tiger is Malaysia's national animal. Fewer than 150 wild tigers remain in Malaysia's fo...

  Amphibious Attraction , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 24" X 33" Amphibians are cold-blooded animals that have a "double life". They begin in water, as jelly-covered eggs which hatch into tadpoles that breathe through gills and swim with their tails. The tadpoles change shape as they grow into adults that breathe through lungs and walk on land on four legs. There are around 4000 species of amphibians which live all over the world except the polar regions.  The blue poison dart frog ( Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus" , top left) is a species of poison dart frog found in northern Brazil. Its bright, blue skin, usually darker around its limbs and stomach, serves as a warning to predators. It also secretes poisonous alkaloids from glands as a defense mechanism to potential predators. The black spots are unique to each frog, enabling individuals to be identified. Staying close to water sources, it spends most of its active time, during the day, hopping around in sh...

  Testudine Tranquility , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 24" X 30" There are about 250 species of turtles and tortoises, which are distributed in most warm parts of the world. They are easily recognized by the hard, rounded shell that protects the main part of its body. Land tortoises thrive in a wide range of habitats including deserts, woodlands and mountains. Pond turtles and terrapins live mostly in rivers and ponds, where they become strong swimmers. The Galapagos tortoise ( Chelonoidis niger ) is the largest reptile in the Galapagos islands, a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean close to the country of Ecuador in South America. The tortoises living on each of the islands vary in shell shape which suit their lifestyles on their respective islands. The dome-shelled variety (pictured) is more well-equipped for the islands with more even ground, while the saddle-backed variety had a flatter shell which enables them to survive in the dry lowlands. The dome-shelled tortoises gene...

Legion of Lizards , acrylic on canvas, 2022. 30" X 24" Lizards are the largest group of reptiles, numbering more than 3700 species. They are most common in tropical zones across the world except the far north and Antarctica. The Komodo dragon ( Varanus komodoensis , center bottom) is the world's largest lizard and is native to several small islands in Indonesia, including the island of Komodo where it got its name. It is a carnivore that hunts large herbivorous mammals such as wild pigs and deer, where it uses its primary weapon, a bite which employs toxic proteins, to subdue its prey. Growing up to 3 meters long and weighing more than 150 kg, the Komodo dragon is the national animal of Indonesia. Juvenile Komodo dragons (one below the adult in the painting, another hiding in a hole on the tree) are greenish with yellow and black bands but become solid gray to reddish-brown as they age. Young dragons will sometimes hide in trees until they are about eight months old to av...