Capitulation
Capitulation (2005) oil on canvas with collage 76 x 76 cm
Initially, the Japanese left the prisoners to fend for themselves - they were given no food. After several weeks of boredom and hunger, it was learned that their captors planned to use the vast numbers of prisoners as a work force. From Changi POW camp they were marched to Bukit Timah, where they built a Shinto memorial shrine on the golf course. The starting points for this abstract image are my father's journal recording the British Army's capitulation and the stamp on a piece of fabric I found amongst his wartime possessions. The writing in the circle is archaic Japanese for 'prisoner' - I have also used the stamp as my �signature� on all but the final painting in this exhibition.