This work is a tribute to National Art Laureate Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal (DSAJ) by Lye Yau Fatt. The still-life arrangement of items on the table mantelpiece with a classic dark-brown finish is interesting. A card bearing DSAJ’s photograph takes centre stage next to a glass filled with water and a white flower, while two stalks of white flowers protrude from the right, as if in homage. A trinity of a Rubic Cube stood on one end on a crystal-like ball which in turn is stood on a triangle can be taken to signify education, which references DSAJ’s role as director at the Specialists Teachers Training Institute, but on a more universal note, signifies the divine creation with the circle as Spirit, the triangle as Soul and the square as Body.
Lye Yau Fatt is one of the most inventive artists in printmaking, paint and sculpture, holding his first solo at the Sum Art Gallery in 1979. He won the 2nd Prize in Sculpture category in the PMAG Open Art Competition, the Permodalan Nasional Berhad Watercolour Landscape Award in 1985, and the Malaysian Watercolour Society Award in 1985.