once the weather has been above freezing for a week I am going to buy baba ghanoush (2023), relief prints

From seven poems to seven relief prints;
verses I’ve loved and lived with as I’ve grown;
their words not mine, but once I illustrate,
they come to tell a story that’s my own.

Through this anthology I meditate,
reflecting on my culture, family ties,
identity as artist, woes and joys,
my college years, far from Singapore skies.

I carved a lot of lino all by hand.
This challenged me to simplify my forms,
abstractions leading to novel ideas.
I play with composition, colour, norms.

I drew from cultures spread across the seas:
Jon Carling, Blake, Morris, Hockney, Rego;
the fauves, romantics, and prints Japanese;
the colours of the buildings back at home.