Somehow, sometime, Fee Ming has come to shared the Balinese “trance”. In Myanmar, the meticulous rendering of matter had already a contemplative quality. In Bali, Fee Ming could not remain detached while living amongst the Balinese. He has shared their way of life and their food, entered their temples, saw their sacred carvings and their no less sacred landscapes; drawing everything, line after line, sketchbook after sketchbook. With a psychic’s sensitivity, he has felt and captured the invisible behind the visible. This confers to paintings like On My Mind, 1999 (page 94)—where a young actor—a mask on his head, prepares to perform, a power of fascination beyond the pure decorative beauty.

Offerings

Sadly, Fee Ming’s dearest mentors, Ida Bagus Made Poleng and J. Elizalde Navarro both passed away in 1999. Both had lived according to their principles and had been great artists. The old Brahmin, sitting day after day in front of his easel, working, but not producing paintings anymore, showed that painting, like dancing or playing music, is worshipping. He also showed that, when the hand is reluctant to paint, an artist can pass the spirit to other artists. Fee Ming’s magnificent images of the island are the fruit of the legacy, they are an artist’s Balinese offerings.