Sarkasi Said

Sarkasi bin Said (27 March 1940 – 14 October 2021), best known as Sarkasi Said and also known by the artist name Tzee, was a contemporary Singaporean batik artist known for abstract batik paintings and his use of unconventional wax-resist techniques. Sarkasi experimented with batik techniques since young, later travelling extensively from the 1960s throughout locations such as Indonesia to develop his skills. In 2003, he created a 103-metre batik painting which set a Guinness World Record for the world’s longest batik painting. Sarkasi has also designed several batik shirts for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to wear during national events.

On 14 October 2021, Sarkasi died of kidney failure.

Education and personal life Sarkasi was born in Singapore on 27 Mar 1940. These featured a range of mediums, spanning batik paintings, acrylic, ink, and watercolours. In 1989, the search was revived as a "textile design" competition by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) through the Singapore Dress Fabric Design Drawing Competition 1989. Sarkasi's design, incorporating a batik painting of an orchid, was one of four designs chosen.

In 2020, Sarkasi was awarded the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual art in Singapore. View of Life by Sarkasi is an 18-panel abstract batik painting expressing the movements of change and nature. Inspired by the lalangs that used to grow in the Serangoon area, the work was intended to reflect the artist's love of batik painting.

Feeling that Singapore's development was underappreciated, Sarkasi decided to create a painting that reflects the "optimism, joy and vitality" of the country's achievements. Initially, the artist wanted to do an impressionist painting, but eventually decided to challenge commuters to think of art "beyond just aesthetics", giving them a learning experience on art as they "communicate what they see" from the work. The type of each brush stroke on the painting depended on the artist's movements and character. The coloured wax was splashed on the white canvas. Using wax-resist, the artist treated each splash with chemicals to dye the colour on the canvas made of thick denim material.

Created in Sarkasi's studio in Indonesia, the work involves nature: The dyes require sunlight for colours to be brought out, with varying weather conditions affecting how the colours came out. With concerns of possible damage the painting might face due to constant exposure to commuter traffic, a photographed digital copy was installed at the station. Even if the original work was protected by glass, the panels might still break. The painting was photographed, printed and laminated before being mounted on the station walls. The original was donated to the NUS Museum. Some of the panels were initially mounted upside down, but Sarkasi corrected the panels' alignments.