I am going to receive brickbats from art lovers for saying this. Every time I pass by this sculpture located outside Orchard Parade Hotel, near the intersection of Tanglin Road, Orchard Road, and Orange Grove Road, it always remind me of the ALIEN movie, the Alien Queen Mother
This distinctive style of sculpture is of course from none other than the famous late sculptor Dr Ng Eng Yeng. Titled ‘Mother & Child’, this piece was caster in bronze in 1980 and is one of two sculptures of the same name. This older sculpture has stood on the same site since its casting and has come to define the older stretch of Orchard Road.
The mother and child motif is common in Singaporean art and is primarily associated with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). The sculpture explores humanistic themes of emotional attraction and kinship. In particular, Ng emphasized his view that maternal care and nurturing were essential to the growth of individuals and society, symbolized by the safely cradled child.
Eng Teng’s artistic abilities were spotted by pioneer art educator Georgette Chen at NAFA, who thought that Ng’s affinity for creating sculptures was a talent Singapore was desperately missing. Hence in 1962, Georgette directed him to study in The Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent, England.
Eng Teng continued to study and work in the British Isles until 1966. Steeped in the concepts of the British Arts and Crafts movement, Ng’s idiosyncratic, biomorphic sculptures began to sprout across newly-independent Singapore.
Eng Teng has been affectionately called the Grandfather of Singapore Sculpture, and is well known for his geometric and abstract explorations of the human body, which reflect the various conditions and states of humanity. He had an illustrious career, becoming a renowned sculptor known in many parts of Asia and Australia and in 1981, his outstanding achievements and contributions to the Singapore art scene have garnered him the Cultural Medallion, the country’s highest artistic accolade. Eng Teng passed away in 1998 after a bout of illness.
The other ‘Mother and Child’ sculpture which was casted in 1996, now stands in front of the National Gallery of Singapore, relocated from its former home of Tampines Central Park.
The next time you visit Orchard Road, take a detour to check out this Alien mother & child. Hero Image Mother and Child by Ng Eng Teng, now on display outside National Gallery Singapore.
