The Gifted One, 1991, 76 x 56 cm
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rai Arya, Bali, Indonesia

My Fair Ladies, 1996 (page 89), represents women too, but perhaps from their dress and postures they are padi farmers. They are resting during the annual “cleansing of the divinities”. The picture plane is charged with electricity. It is crossed from left to right by the ascending diagonals of large batik patterns on the sarongs, with strong rebellious lines above the bronze-coloured legs, as if a gust of wind was passing, foreboding a tempest. There is a swirling effect in the cloth like in the robes of Chinese divinities. It would be a romantic painting, if it were not for the incongruous appearance of a plastic-looking pinkish-white pair of sandals. Fee Ming likes to focus on unconventional details that transgress the accepted rules of aesthetic “good taste”. It is a tendency that in fact often reinforces the impact of his works. After all, the “My Fair Ladies” deserve a break. It is important to know that they are used to going barefoot, and prefer it, when given theopportunity.