Lau Pey Kee
BORN: 1947
HOMETOWN: ANXI, FUJIAN PROVINCE, CHINA
Dr. Lau Pey Kee (b. 1947-2021) was born in Anxi, Fujian Province, and went to his grandfather’s house in Sabah, Malaysia, in 1948. In 1952, he came to Singapore, graduated from Guanghua Primary School, and attended De Ming Government Chinese Middle School. The art teacher of that year was renowned artist, Mr. Liu Kang. Upon discovering his passion for the arts and interest in painting, his mother would send him to Mr. Liu’s “Tomorrow” art studio to learn more from the artist every weekend, until he graduated from junior high school.
As Dr. Lau’s physics teacher in high school enlightened him to go into scientific research, that was the path he took, which led him to graduate from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. He then went to the UK to study for a Ph.D. in Microwave Communications. He worked at Nortel in the area of satellite communications, fiber optics, influence factor research, etc. until his retirement.
Most of his artworks are sketches and pastel paintings. His sketches are very vivid, featuring sculptured busts of Western women and men of European regions. His pastel paintings are of vegetables and simple daily products like hampers. The usage of pastel details showed that he was a one-of-a-kind artist who transcended beyond cultural influences and created a niche for himself.