Nai Swee Leng (b. 1946) is a distinguished Chinese ink artist known for his Chinese ink paintings and calligraphies.
Swee Leng graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and received mentorship from masters of Shanghai School, Fan Chang Tien, See Hiang To, and leader of the Lingnan School, Chao Shao-Ang. Integrating traditional brush techniques with subjects of Nanyang, Swee Leng developed his unique, bold and spontaneous freehand xieyi style (写意派). The depth, strength and grace of Swee Leng’s Chinese ink paintings embodies his pursuit of 真善美 (zhēn shàn měi: truth, goodness, beauty). Swee Leng loves painting flora and fauna and Nanyang themes, such as coconuts trees, bamboo, birds, and flowers. He has held solo and group exhibitions throughout his career and has published three art books so far.
Swee Leng’s artistic achievements have garnered local and international recognition. Since 1995, he was appointed Overseas Member of the prestigious Xiling Seal Art Society Zhejiang, one of China’s most important traditional stone seal engraving art association; and in 2006, he was awarded the Siaw-Tao Distinguished Art Award by Siaw-Tao Chinese Seal Carving, Calligraphy & Painting Society. Swee Leng’s Chinese ink art works were represented at the 2014 and 2016 Singapore Post Stamp Series in conjunction with the President’s Charity Art Exhibition, and his Chinese ink calligraphies have been inscribed on many traditional wooden plaques at The Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, a National Monument.
Swee Leng has held more than 10 solo and many group exhibitions in Singapore and abroad. Having been invited to represent Singapore by the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board and the Ministry of Culture (now the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY)), and appointed panel judge for many local art competitions, Swee Leng is a familiar veteran in the local art scene. Swee Leng’s Chinese ink paintings are not only represented at galleries locally and abroad, but are also collected by private and corporate art collectors around the world and presented as diplomatic gifts to foreign guests and visitors of the Government.
Swee Leng dedicated a significant part of his career to art promotion. He co-founded the Molan Art Association in 1967 to promote and preserve Chinese arts and heritage, and conducted art classes nurturing many artists for the past five decades. He is also Art Advisor to various local and overseas art groups. As the Singapore correspondent for the Taiwan First Art Magazine in the 1980s, he wrote about Singapore’s fine arts to overseas Chinese communities. He frequently exhibited his works and was guest speaker at many local and overseas art events, including speaking at the 2014 and 2015 editions of Hong Kong Chinese Ink Art Festival at the Jao Tsung-I Academy.
In March 2016, Swee Leng spoke at the Ink Masters Series – National Gallery Singapore about the development of Chinese ink arts during the Ming and Qing periods. He also conducted engaging live demonstration sessions of his Chinese ink brushwork, where he painted his favourite subjects such as pine trees, and Nanyang landscapes.
