The standing female nude, with an odd reflection, is set full frontal in the centre with genitalia and breasts thrust to the foreground against vibrant blooms of red and yellow heliconias. The bird-of-paradise herbaceous plants are taken to symbolize fertility. This work from Tew Nai Tong’s post-Paris period of between 1999 to 2002 reveals a refreshing ardour of live painting of nudes. The woman is shown with a slender, elongated body, smooth flowing hair but with her face obscured so as to make the body the focal point. Nai Tong is known for his Nanyang Style figures with doleful eyes and elongated limbs. He followed the typical route of students trained at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) in Singapore (1957-1958), in furthering his studies at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts (1967-68). On his return, he taught at several academies namely the Malaysian Institute of Art (1969-1980), Central Academy of Art (1982-1985), and the Saito Academy of Art (1986-1988), before he became a fulltime artist in 1992. His first exhibition was at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur in 1964. His career culminated in a survey exhibition called Odyssey at the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, in 2007. In 2009, he won the Asia Art Award in Seoul, South Korea.