Captivating Chinese Opera

When I saw the poster for the Solo Art Exhibition in the theme, Captivating & Mesmerising Chinese Opera, I was at once captivated by the portrait (rendered in sepia shades!) of a female opera artiste dressed in traditional opera costume, complete with an elaborate headdress.

Artist Raymond Koh and some of his pyrography art
at the Captivating & Mesmerising Chinese Opera exhibition

I scrutinized the poster for details and discovered that this exhibition was on now until August 31 at the Senso Art Gallery Café along Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, which I thought was just right because it’s aptly within the heritage quarter of Johor Baru.

My love affair with Chinese opera started early, in younger years when we lived with our grandparents at No. 154 Jalan Ngee Heng. As school-going kids, my siblings, cousins and I had no choice but to listen to their choice of music.

My grandmother was Cantonese (Seiyap) while grandfather or Ah Kong, was Teochew.

While Ah Kong would play his LPs (Long Play) vinyl records on the electric turntable, both our grandparents had battery-operated transistor radios which they often tuned into their favourite channels.

Amazing detail in this portrait
of female Chinese opera artiste

By listening to Ah Kong and grandma’s choice of music, I soon learnt to differentiate the two – Teochew versus Cantonese opera music – from the types of musical instruments used to their distinctive nuances in the (shrill!) vocals.

When television was first introduced, we had a Black-and-White set where Ah Kong would pick the opera shows for both, he and grandma to watch. These TV shows were not for school kids but after doing our homework, we often snuck downstairs to peep!

These operas were screened in Black-and-White but I still enjoyed the sight of the ornate costumes and staged dramatics even though I hardly understood their sing-song language.

So just imagine how thrilled I was when I finally watched Chinese opera on TV in full-colour or in live shows where the artistes were fully decked up in glittering garments!

In fact, my fascination with Chinese opera culminated in many published stories like, Teochew Traditions (April 2012), Those Opera Days (Feb 2013), Art of Teochew Entertainment (May 2015) and Art of Asian Puppetry (Oct 2016) among other family stories that featured grandma and Ah Kong’s penchant for Chinese opera.

Visitors at the Captivating & Mesmerising Chinese Opera
art exhibition held at Senso Art Gallery Cafe

On reading about the Captivating & Mesmerising Chinese Opera art exhibition, I made a firm decision to make a trip to the heritage quarter, not only to immerse myself into Chinese opera again but also to meet the artist.

Artist Raymond Koh – is known more specifically as a pyrographer – because he is skilled in the art of pyrography.

A quick online search with Wikipedia revealed that the art of pyrography started from the 17^th century and reached its highest standard in the 19^th century.

Pyrography or pyrogravure is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker.

If a fireplace poker was used, the form of artwork was also known as pokerwork or wood-burning.

Portrait of a Chinese opera artiste
in the role as a female warrior

The term pyrography simply means “writing with fire,” derived from the Greek pur (fire) and graphos (writing).

I arrive early at the gallery, way ahead of the Opening Reception that afternoon so that I may enjoy viewing the exhibits before other guests and get to chat with the artist.

As Raymond shows me the exhibits one-by-one, he explains that this body of work is the result of his 30 years in this journey.

His exhibits – stunning portraits of Chinese opera artistes, from a charming maiden to a commanding general – every piece of art has its story.

While I quiz him about his art, his family background or if he was from Johor, Raymond, a self-taught pyrographer, shares with me a little about his journey in pyrography

When he introduces himself as Teochew and that his family used to live at No. 94 Jalan Ngee Heng, I felt that it was rather uncanny because it was on the same road as our grandfather’s old house!

Visitors admiring the exhibits in the gallery

A former student of Sekolah Dato Jaafar, Raymond recalls with pride that he managed to score a Distinction in Art for his O-Level examination.

“It was not easy to score a Distinction in Art,” said Raymond modestly as he reminisced about schooldays and their strict but much cherished headmaster, Mr Harbhajan Singh.

This struck a familiar chord with me because I had the privilege to join the school alumni to celebrate the 80^th birthday of Mr Harbhajan Singh in 2016.

During his secondary school years in the late 1970s, the school welcomed American Peace Corps volunteers and one lady Peace Corps volunteer introduced Raymond to the basics in the art of pyrography.

At that time, it was a little known art technique and he recalled that the instrument then used for wood-burning was a soldering iron.

The Beijing Opera Mask series

Clearly with a gift in art, Raymond went on to pursue his studies in Interior Decoration with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in Singapore.

Upon graduation, he applied his skills and training to a job in interior decorating.

While he had a full-time career in interior decorating, Raymond continued to dabble in art – mainly painting in watercolours and acrylic paints – but only as a hobby.

Then he ventured into pyrography, at first using a soldering iron for woodburning, before more sophisticated instruments were invented for this purpose.

In the era prior to the use of the internet, teaching materials or guidebooks were hard to come by and it was mainly through trial and error, and years later before he finally achieved the desired results in his pyrography.

An illustration of a Beijing Opera artiste rendered in colour

About six years later, Raymond quit his job in interior decoration to be involved with social work for the next 16 years.

While he was based in Segamat, working with the poor, needy and marginalized, he also pursued his passion in pyrography. It was only recently that he moved back to Johor Baru to focus on his art.

Like me, Raymond was also exposed to Chinese opera since childhood and while his choice of subjects ranged from contemporary to classics, Raymond chose Chinese Opera as the theme for this particular body of work because he recognised it as a dying art and wished to preserve its beauty for posterity.

He also discussed the types of wood used for his art that included untreated Maple ply because its lighter shade allows for more contrast in his pyrography.

This portrait was done on Birch wood
for the beauty of its natural grain

He said Birch was another choice of wood because its natural grain creates an added beautiful dimension to his art.

As one of the few artists in the region who has mastered the art of pyrography, Raymond conducts workshops and facilitates a series of courses for serious learners.

Starting from the compulsory course in Basic Level I & II, learners will progress to five classes in the Intermediate Level before being assessed and considered if they were ready to take on the Advanced Level course.

During this month-long exhibition, Raymond will also conduct workshops in pyrography for anyone keen to discover their talents in this art-form.

Visit the Captivating & Mesmerising Chinese Opera art exhibition, open daily from 12pm to 7pm (closed on Tuesday) until August 31 at the Senso Art Gallery Café (upstairs), 25A Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Baru.

For enquiries and workshop registrations, Tel: +6016 - 742 5428 or +607 – 2200 299.