When the owner of this apartment purchased Chinese artist Dou Rong Jun’s painting Contemplation for her previous home, her numerologist was aghast. “He saw the artwork and was very upset. ‘It’s the wrong painting for the living room – very depressing; it’s not good for your luck,’” recollected the owner, a finance professional who resides in this apartment with her live-in helper and beloved hound.
The painting, bought from local gallery Ode to Art, depicts a well-formed man, seated hunched over with his down-turned head resting on his fist. This closed-in posture was inauspicious; too melancholic, the numerologist insisted. But the owner could not bear to part with it.
“I love it; I like to look at it. Maybe because I’m introspective by nature, so I’m drawn to his posture. There’s also palpable strength in his hand, and I like human forms in art,” she said. “I love the artist’s Chinese ink wash-like style like in sanshui hua (scenic painting). This was the first artwork I got for the living room in my previous home. This time around, as soon as I saw the high wall in the double-volume space of my new home, I knew this was where it was to be.” In the end, the solution was to tack red packets behind the artwork — and there they have remained through her move.
The painting’s peach-pink shade became the inspiration for the metal staircase that it hangs above. This, and other bold colours, play an important role in this apartment’s interior design. It is vastly different from her former abode, which was influenced by the third-wave coffeeshop style of the 2000s, with timber furniture, screed floors and industrial accents.
