Deathless Tropicality: Georgette Chen and Diasporic Aesthetics

Abstract

This thesis, “Deathless Tropicality: Georgette Chen and Diasporic Aesthetics,” examines the diasporic aesthetics of Singaporean artist Georgette Chen (1906–1993)’s oeuvre. Recognized as one of the pioneer members of the Nanyang style of painting—an art movement often characterized by the depiction of Southeast Asian subject matter through a combination of Western painting techniques and Chinese ink traditions—Chen’s paintings have traditionally been praised for her masterful application of (Post-)Impressionist techniques on local subject matter. However, the emphasis on her technical skill, though important, risks omitting compelling insights into what living and painting in Southeast Asia meant for her, both affectively and philosophically. Taking seriously her self-identification as a tropical plant and tropical escargot (the French word for snail), I argue that her work must be interpreted in conjunction with this zoobotanical self-identification—a tropical more-than-human being. Additionally, I adopt the term deathless from Chen’s own frequent usage in her letters to trace the contours of a kind of diasporic temporality that is simultaneously timeless, gradual, linear, cyclical, and haunting as well as to weave a touch of her sensibility into my analysis. Combining close reading of her writings with visual analysis of her artworks, as well as drawing from critical plant studies, critical theory, posthuman theory, and ecological art historical approaches, this thesis presents a non-anthropocentric perspective on Nanyang style and Chen’s aesthetics which go beyond binaries of Western and Chinese art traditions. More importantly, Georgette Chen’s more-than-human being and aesthetics position her at the intersection of multiple peripheries—Southeast Asia, women, animal, and plant vis-à-vis Paris/China, men, and human. Finally, the case of Georgette Chen offers insights into how we can interpret and articulate Southeast Asia/Nanyang and its histories as an ecological concept rather than merely a geopolitical region.