Self-taught artist manipulates colours to create serene abstract landscapes.

EVERY artist's story and journey is unique, as distinct as the art he produces. For Dennis Chan, his occupation as a professional framer means that he is frequently in touch with artists and collectors and their artworks. And over the years, as his appreciation for art steadily grew, so did his desire to try his hand at it. With the encouragement of an artist friend and the help of a book, he picked up the brush and painted his first watercolour piece in 1994.

Sweeping landscapes and flora and fauna were what came from his brush, with Chan drawing particular inspiration from Pulau Tioman and the surrounding islands which he had frequented for a number of years. He participated in a number of group shows, most notably a landscape-themed exhibition at the National Visual Arts Gallery.

The need to find a new expression with his art drove Chan to experiment with gold and silver leaves — which he normally uses to gild a frame — by pasting them on canvas and then layering on colours by means of pouring and dripping. This technique, achieved by manipulating paint poured from glass ketchup bottles, squeezy bottles and spray bottles, became his own defining visual language, one that is guided by intuition and spontaneity.

As Chan tells it, one day a gallery owner chanced upon his works, liked what he saw and decided to give him his first solo show, which took place in 2008. That exhibition featured the Eruption series, with works in strong, bold colours of red and desert tones. "Sometimes it's not something you decide on," says Chan, when asked about this particular theme to the works. "When you experiment on the canvas, when I pour the paint on it, I see what's going to happen and go from there."

The resulting works are arresting colour abstractions with a subtle and nuanced shimmer to them, thanks to the gold or silver leaves beneath the diluted paint. Landscapes remain the subject matter of choice for Chan, who culls scenic images of sandy beaches and majestic mountains from his rich memory and translates them onto the canvas. There are no ideals Chan is trying to push or messages he wants to convey — his paintings are simply a mystifying play on colours and light.

For his second solo, Chan presented hilly terrains and mountain ranges in cool tones of blue, silver, green, brown and gold that evoke a sense of calm. In his third solo, he introduced forms into the works by way of one-dimensional bulbous earthenware set against a stark black backdrop. Chan reveals that vases are another favourite subject matter of his — he once did a whole series of small oil paintings of vases and plants.

This month, Chan returns with a fourth solo at G13 Gallery in Kelana Jaya, titled The Resonance of Forms. In this series, one detects several evolutions to his style, notably the absence of gold or silver leaves in this year's pieces — there were several works in last year's show that used these leaves — and the hazy, static-effect that he infuses into the paintings. This is a marked difference from his earlier works; there is a lot more control in the way the paint flows, and Chan ventures further into abstraction and stylisation of forms.

A few of the works are done in bursts of varying blue tones that are reminiscent of cliffs on a foggy evening. The artist's favourite piece is Golden Reflection, which sports a luminous pond shimmering in the late afternoon sun with a horizon line speckled with trees. And speaking of trees, they are the focus in two of the works, one painted against a lush green forest and the other a dreamy, dusk landscape.

Like Chan's earlier works, this series exudes a feeling of serenity. Art curator Tan Sei Hon sums it up beautifully in his essay the effect that Chan's works have on their viewers: "His sensitive use of colours and tones brings out an atmospheric quietude, evoking nostalgic longings, or affects the mood in soothing and pleasing ways."

It's simple for Chan — his art is basically his vision of beauty and aesthetics, captured on canvas.

The Resonance of Forms by Dennis Chan is on view until July 15 at G13 Gallery, GL13, Ground Floor, Block B, Kelana Square, Jalan SS 7/26, Kelana Jaya. Hours are 11am to 5pm daily. Call (03) 7880 0991 for more information.

This story appeared in The Edge on June 25, 2012.