Using art to evoke emotions

COLOUR, symbols, and shapes - these are some of the elements that artists use to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. Take for example Cheong Soo Pieng's strong orange hues in his Dusk painting, or the shades of red in Cristene Chang Hoei's Weave, Unweave.

Such were the criteria used to select the 15 works from UOB Bank's collection of over 2,300 for its exhibition themed Sensibility in Art: Southeast Asia and the Local Paradigm curated by Bridget Tracy Tan, director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Arts and Art Galleries, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore (Nafa).

The selected paintings were picked to encourage viewers to appreciate how different elements in art can evoke emotion, she says. "Sensibility in art relates to emotions and feelings. It also relates to how we perceive meaning from looking at an artwork."