Dimension: 29.7 (w) x 42.0 (h) cm | 11.7" x 16.5"
4 colour Risograph
Edition of 20
Signed and numbered
Printed on 220gsm uncoated acid-free paper
Subtle imperfections may vary
Knuckles & Notch (2025)
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Hercules, Goliath, Arnold Schwarzenegger. These are probably some of the names people think about when asked to name weightlifting icons. In Singapore however, our strongest go by other names.

Weightlifting for sport is believed to pre-date written history, where records in many civilisations of feats of strength have been passed down through oral tales, and eventually written down. In both Ancient China and Ancient Greece the strongest would lift stones to prove their strength and virility.

These days stones are left alone, while measured weights and even logs are used instead! Take Scotland for example, with a strong tradition of weight lifting competitions known as the Scottish Highland Gatherings, they have been taking place annually since 1820 and are seen as the forerunners of modern strength sports.

In Singapore our Hercules is the legendary Tan Howe Liang, AKA the first Singaporean to win an Olympic medal! Bringing home a Silver in the Lightweight category for weightlifting has been inscribed into the annals of Singaporean sporting history and although he is no longer with us, he will never be forgotten. He created a path for future strongmen and women such as David Mok, Farhanna Farid, and Helena Wong, who are all mighty legends in their own ways.
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When most people think of sports, it’s often just an activity — motion, movement, engagement of both body and mind. But as visual artists, we see sports as much more than just that. Sports is a form of expression, a performance that utilises our strengths in ways that are fundamentally human and that cannot be replicated by machines. Every athletic moment is a voluntary decision we make to engage our body in a unified act of expression.

Echoes of the Wave presents our exploration of sports in a new light. Through our art director Djohan, who has spent much of his life participating in competitive games such as floor ball, hockey and skateboarding, we are able to approach this project with an understanding of sports. For him, staying active is an essential part of his holistic artistic practice, by granting him a deeper understanding of the human body.

Creativity, culture and leisure shape the way that we experience the world and ourselves, while sports concurrently engage the body and mind on a physical and metaphysical level. Integrating the two illustrates that art is more than just an aesthetic. It's a core expression of life itself, and serves to deepen our understanding and layers of meaning to these moments of athletic performance.

Our exhibition seeks to capture this synergy through a series of illustrations that reflect the intensity and impact of sports. By freezing a moment in time, we weave together the contrast of light and shadow, evoking a sense of tremendous movement, while the rich textures and neutral tones ground the palette in reality. These artworks speak to the way iconic sporting moments ripple outwards, creating lasting impressions that live on well after the moment has passed.

We aim through our art, to reflect the profound connection between sports and culture, and how they inspire each other by sparking dialogue, uniting communities, and transcending cultural boundaries.
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