Christine Ay Tjoe’s Abstraction Takes New Directions

Christine Ay Tjoe's artistic journey began in Bandung, Indonesia, where she honed her skills in drawing and textiles before discovering the transformative power of printmaking—specifically intaglio drypoint techniques—and ultimately embracing oil painting as her primary medium. Her work isn’t merely about representation; it’s an immersive encounter with feeling, memory, and the inherent duality of existence – a core principle that continues to permeate her oeuvre. Tjoe's early training at the Bandung Institute of Technology instilled in her a meticulous attention to detail and spatial awareness, which would later inform her distinctive approach to composition and color palettes. Her signature technique—a process akin to printmaking or drawing—involves applying oil sticks onto smoothly primed canvases with her hands, resulting in textured surfaces that oscillate between abstraction and figuration. This deliberate physicality speaks volumes about the artist’s connection to her materials and her desire to convey visceral emotion. Unlike traditional painting methods focused on blending colors seamlessly, Ay Tjoe's method emphasizes layering and scratching—a technique she describes as “almost like drawing,” allowing for a dynamic interplay of lines, blotches, and washes that capture fleeting moments and subtle shifts in tone. This approach is particularly evident in her series *Blue Cryptobiosis*, begun in 2010 and revisited in 2020 and 2021 amidst the anxieties of the COVID-19 pandemic. The term “cryptobiosis,” borrowed from biology—the state of inactivity in organisms triggered by extreme environments—serves as a conceptual anchor for this series. Ay Tjoe draws inspiration from tardigrades, microscopic invertebrates renowned for their resilience to radiation and dehydration, viewing them not only as emblems of survival but also as symbols of hope – the promise of renewal after periods of dormancy. As she eloquently stated on the whitecube website for her Hong Kong exhibition, “This is about the specific, rare, and beautiful ability of living things…offering possibilities of a longer life and greater hope instead.” This profound observation underscores Tjoe’s artistic preoccupation with confronting existential questions while simultaneously celebrating the beauty inherent in vulnerability. The color blue—chosen specifically to represent hope—holds particular significance within *Blue Cryptobiosis #10*. Linked to water, which revitalizes tardigrades upon thawing, it embodies a desire for regeneration and resilience. The artist’s meticulous layering of oil paints creates an ethereal luminosity that captures the essence of this symbolic connection. Furthermore, Ay Tjoe's exploration of materiality extends beyond color; she deliberately utilizes the inherent qualities of oil—its viscosity, its ability to absorb light—to achieve a textural richness that mirrors the microscopic world she seeks to depict. The resulting paintings are not simply visual representations but tangible expressions of contemplation and artistic intention. Finally, *Blue Cryptobiosis #10*’s subtle inclusion of clocks – one positioned at the top left corner and another near the bottom right—adds another layer of complexity to the artwork's narrative. These symbols serve as reminders of time passing, mirroring the broader context of the pandemic era and prompting viewers to consider themes of endurance and transformation. The painting’s overall composition is carefully considered, inviting contemplation on the relationship between fragility and permanence – a reflection that aligns seamlessly with Ay Tjoe’s artistic vision.

• Artist: Christine Ay Tjoe (Indonesian, born Bandung, 1973)
• Medium: Oil on Canvas
• Dimensions: Diptych (each panel): 78 7/8 × 67 1/8 × 1 5/8 in. (200.3 × 170.5 × 4.1 cm)
• Date: 2021

Provenance: Gift of Jonathan Cheung, 2023 Credit Line: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition: Hong Kong 2021, Whitecube.com