In the first part of this diptych, two catfishes can be seen swimming towards viewer at the bottom, probably gossiping about potential choice food, from the stems of the lotus rooted in mud perhaps. The lotus is shown as its shower-head pod and in bloom. The lotus signifies long life, health and good luck, and purity of heart and mind, adapting and surmounting its muddy environs. The work is lyrical imbuing the ethereal qualities of Chinese brush painting with a gentility that is fresh and delicate. There is languor and a feeling of sweet forgetfulness. In the catalogue of Many Splendoured Things where this work was shown at Valentine Willie Fine Art (March 23 - April 8, 2006), J. Anurendra wrote:“...Siew Ying distils from these elements a language without temporal limit, a universalising mode. In these new drawings, form bespeaks content and content, form, in a unity rarely achieved in contemporary art.” Chong Siew Ying pursued her destiny in art by leaving for France in 1990 to study art at the L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Versailles (1991-1994) and then L’Atelier 63 (1994-1996), supporting herself by working part-time as an au pair. She first graduated with a Diploma in Graphic Design at the Petaling Jaya College of Art and Design. She was given residencies on her return, first at Rimbun Dahan (1999-2000) and then the Vermont Studio Centre, United States (2001, Freeman Asian Artist Fellowship). In 2002, she won a Special Award in the Young Contemporary Artists (BMS) competition, and she was a finalist in the Hong Kong Sovereign Art Prize in 2009. In Paris, she was given solos at the MaisonTch’A, Atelier d’ Maravel and Gallery Cafe Panique. She had a solo at The Edge Galerie in 2014.