Eng Hwee Chu’s works revolves around the heart of social life, touching on tradition and change, religion and rituals, the manmade and the natural environment. This work, No. 11, from her celebrated Black Moon Series – No. 12 won a Minor Award in the 1992 Young Contemporary Artists competition – has the half-naked female protagonist in a lotus garden shielding her eyes with her hand over the prospects of environmental degradation. Looks are beguiling, with doves and elephants cavorting and the bells pealing, but behind her is half-hidden a sinister dark shadow. The Black Moon Series comprised 14 large works done between 1989 and 1992. Though then not her husband yet, fellow artist Tan Chin Kuan hovers around her oeuvre, maybe offering solace and encouragement. “The black moon is the real moon, the lighted moon is the glory of the sun… Under the black moon, people reveal their true colours. When the moon is bright, everyone will be sober and diligently present their positive self.” - Eng Hwee Chu, in Contemporary Feminist Artist (The Great Empire of Art Project). Eng Hwee Chu’s biggest triumph was when her Cry Freedom won 1st Prize in the Malaysian-level Asean Art Award in 1994. She had a stake in the Young Contemporary Artists competition, of which her husband Tan Chin Kuan was a double Major Award winner (once jointly) when she won the Minor Award in 1992. She was one of Malaysia’s representatives in the 2nd Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane in 1996. She was also selected for the Art In Southeast Asia (Hiroshima, Japan, 1997) and the Women In Between: Asian Women Artists 1984-2012 in Fukuoka and Tochigi in Japan (2012). Hwee Chu, Chin Kuan and their three children had a joint exhibition called ‘A Family Of Artists’ at the Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, in October 2013. She graduated from the Malaysian Institute of Art (1986-1989) and taught there for a spell.