AA Adopts: William
William photographed at the office. Photo by Ismiraudhatul Huda Suleiman.
At Art Again, we’re all about filling more lives with art. Our marketplace exists to give art, otherwise stuck hidden in private collections, renewed meaning by helping it find a home again, or in this case, an office.
In AA Adopts, we feature the art we’ve successfully re-homed, highlight the diversity of buyers from our platform and explore how seamlessly they’ve integrated these artworks into their lives and spaces.
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For our third instalment of AA Adopts, we speak with William Ng, an architect and thoughtful collector who acquired Ian Woo's Prog Rock #1 and Hua Chai Yong's Untitled (Singapore River) for his airy, light-filled office. In this interview, he shares how the artworks connect with his love for thoughtful composition and unexpected details, and how they've brought a sense of character and quiet conversation into his working space.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, and your interest in art?
I am William Ng, the Founder and Principal Architect of STUDIO WILLS + Architects, a Singapore-based architectural practice.
As an architectural practice, we gravitate towards spatial, scenes and events whether abstract or figurative, materials and composition.
As a Singapore-based practice, our interest lies in the works of Singaporean and Singapore-based artists.
Can you tell us about your office, what made you want to acquire an artwork?
Our office is located in a repurposed flat on the highest floor of a 4-storey public housing block. Nestled under a huge pitched roof, our office has a high ceiling space bathed in abundant natural lighting.
We started to acquire artworks to add visual interest on the huge expanse of walls in the office. With time and a growing collection, the interest grew to pairing of works from different genre and artists as a visual exercise. Currently, there is an interest in collecting the journey of a handful of artists.
Hua Chai Yong, Untitled (Singapore River), 1981
What drew you to the artworks you acquired from us? What about it caught your attention?
We collected 2 works from Art Again. The first piece was Prog Rock #1 2008 by Ian Woo and the second piece was Untitled (Boat Quay, Singapore River) 1981 by Hua Chai Yong.
Prog Rock #1 2008 stands between 2 works; The Ribbon 2008 and Lot Sees Salt 2009 by the same artist. We encountered the first work, collected by Singaporean artist Donna Ong during an exhibition “Artist as Collector” curated by Dr Wang Ruobing for SAW 2021.
We encountered the later work, 4 monumental works of graphite on paper, Lot Sees Salt 2009 in the exhibition “Medium at Large” in 2014 at Singapore Art Museum.
When we found Prog Rock #1 2008 on Art Again, we jumped at it.
When we found Untitled (Boat Quay, Singapore River) 1981 on Art Again, we had completely no idea of artist Hua Chai Yong who made the work. However, the work stood out in its techniques of watercolour in flat brush. It has a greenish tinge which is unusual of watercolour paintings of that period which were largely of a brownish tinge. It’s composition, a reinterpretation of a scene of Boat Quay from a postcard, is also unique.
We went ahead to collect it nonetheless and learnt about Hua Chai Yong and his works only later through an online lecture “Introduction to SG Modern Visual Art History” by Ho Sou Ping.
Hua Chai Yong was a 2nd generation watercolourist and his contemporaries included the renowned Ong Kim Seng. Born in 1943, Hua was highly talented and found his personal style which he ‘matured’ by the late 70s. Unfortunately, he did not turn into full-time painting and stopped painting in the early 1990s. He passed on in 2018, leaving behind a small body of works.
This work which we collected is likely one which we will grow to learn and appreciate more over time.
Photo by Doreen Fan.
What other artworks were you eyeing on our marketplace?
We shall keep this to ourselves for fear that they will be collected.
Why is art important to you?
We enjoy studying the evolution of artists’ works and this often results in us reflecting on our own works. Occasionally, this gives us ideas for our works and practice and we find this very fulfilling.
Also, a good piece of artwork always asks questions more than providing answers.
What stood out to you most about the experience of buying/browsing art through Art Again?
There are many hidden gems.
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If you’re interested, here is Hua Chai Yong's other incredible artwork from his collection still available for purchase on Art Again’s marketplace:
To get started with buying art, read our buyer’s guide.
Alternatively you may write to us at sales@artagain.co — art should feel personal and accessible, we’re here to make that happen.
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