Goh Kheng Yew, the artist, writes:

Wielding my brush, a notion dawned upon me, "the creation of Art is a lonely task".Yielding to this loneliness, I discovered quietude, and my mind found clarity. With this quiet clarity, one perceives things as they are: there is no intrinsic beauty or ugliness, and all is good. It is with this conviction that I arrived at the Chinese name for this exhibition "A Clear Luminosity Solely Illuminates".

I have strived to face the turbulences of the past year with calm, for all things are impermanent, so too is turbulence. At my lowest ebb, I could no longer paint. Instead, I sought refuge in calligraphy, writing prose, listening to opera, meditation and chanting. I was lost in an arid wasteland, where Inspiration is as fleeting as a faithless lover.

Casting aside my brush, I took off to a monastic retreat on Mt Jiuhua in Anhui Province in the autumn of 2003. Stilled by the austere observances of the Monastery, I became aware of the root of my screaming solitude, and my heart was set free from all mpediments.

In the dark pre-dawn of the mountaintop, clad in my layman robe of black, I strolled towards The Great Hall. The temple bell tolling sonorously, and my gaze fixed on my shadow cast by moon light, I came to a bower of pines. As I looked up, I felt a joyful serenity, and was mmersed in a poem by my dharma master:

A glimpse of the moon so bright,
Through an arbour of pines, this sight
Is where Joy must surely reside.

It was an epiphany, but a gentle one: it is time for me to go home, to paint.