SPEAK CRYPTIC
  • ABOUT
  • SELECTED WORK
    • SELECTED DRAWINGS
    • THE SAME SIDE OF THE MOON ALWAYS FACES EARTH
    • OPEN MY HEART, EASE MY TASK, LOOSEN THE KNOT ON MY TONGUE
    • SING ALONG IF YOU KNOW THE WORDS
    • IN ALL DIRECTIONS
    • CROSSING SHORES
    • FLYING SUPERMARKET
    • A STATE OF DECLINE
    • ANATOMY OF A HEARTBREAK
    • KNIVES IN THE WATER
    • THE TRIBE
    • MINOR CITIES
    • SORRY, NOT SORRY
    • KAMAR KAMILLION
    • PRESENT CONDITION
    • FENOMENA
    • AGIT
    • KA-KHÉ
    • SLOW AND STEADY
    • PRIMARY MOTIF
  • CONTACT
  • STORE
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"Ka-khé"
Commissioned by the Singapore Art Museum for the Singapore Show: Future Proof (Singapore Art Museum @8Q, 2012.)
Acrylic, aerosol paint on wall
2012


"The word Ka-khé is Baweanese for "naughty" or "stubborn". The artist remembers hearing that word very often as he was growing up and felt it was the only real link he had to his ancestry. Speak Cryptic's interest in his Baweanese heritage only resurfaced after a recent conversation he had with his mother where he learnt a lot about his late grandfather's life.


Being heavily involved with street art in the earlier part of his career, his works often lamented the human condition in the way they employed the repetition of certain motifs like skulls, knives and slogans that confronts and forces its viewer to think. This piece of work, featuring a variety of symbols and characters from his research, is the result of his study of Baweanese culture and in remembrance of his initial struggle with identity. The artist spent time alone for several nights, paiting the four levels of stairwell within the 8Q building, turning it into a monchromatic narrative through the use of the building's architecture, drawing inspiration from the ancient Roman columns that depicted military victories."

Ka-khé from Speak Cryptic on Vimeo.




© 2022 SPEAK CRYPTIC
Copyright © 2021
  • ABOUT
  • SELECTED WORK
    • SELECTED DRAWINGS
    • THE SAME SIDE OF THE MOON ALWAYS FACES EARTH
    • OPEN MY HEART, EASE MY TASK, LOOSEN THE KNOT ON MY TONGUE
    • SING ALONG IF YOU KNOW THE WORDS
    • IN ALL DIRECTIONS
    • CROSSING SHORES
    • FLYING SUPERMARKET
    • A STATE OF DECLINE
    • ANATOMY OF A HEARTBREAK
    • KNIVES IN THE WATER
    • THE TRIBE
    • MINOR CITIES
    • SORRY, NOT SORRY
    • KAMAR KAMILLION
    • PRESENT CONDITION
    • FENOMENA
    • AGIT
    • KA-KHÉ
    • SLOW AND STEADY
    • PRIMARY MOTIF
  • CONTACT
  • STORE
    • FOUNDATION (NFT)
    • KNOWNORIGIN (NFT)
    • OPENSEA (NFT)
    • OBJKT (NFT)
    • THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
    • DOWNLOADS
    • BACKGROUNDS
  • LINKS