Painting Series by Jean-Sebastien Choo, Self-taught Autistic Artist #18— Two Nature Paintings

by Choo Kah Ying

These two paintings, completed within the first year of Sebastien's move to Bali, hark back to one of the reasons why we had sought to set up a home for him, away from Singapore. Throughout our overseas travel, Sebastien had always been significantly happier and at ease when he was steeped in nature.

(I Love Nature, 8 x 16 in, water color and poster color, canvas panel, SGD140 + shipping)

We feel grateful that Sebastien has been leading an active and fulfilling life in the natural environs of Bali, with its incredible, multi-varied landscape. As these photos reveal, Sebastien is well-immersed in nature from his pursuit of his farming life to his twice-a-week hikes, among myriad other activities in his rustic existence.

At the same time, one can err on the side of assuming that putting Sebastien in a natural environment had automatically translated into his sense of well-being. As highlighted in the title of the painting below, our journey towards Sebastien's thriving life in Bali had involved navigating a "complex terrain" fraught with obstacles and complexities at many steps along the way, which lasted for 18 months.

(Complex Terrain, 8 x 16 in, water color and poster color, canvas panel, SGD140 + shipping)

The reality is that what has made a huge difference to Sebastien's well-being in Bali is the connection that he has built with his carers, Bema and Hari. Bema's family is now also an important part of Sebastien's daily life. During their recent celebration of Sebastien's 25th birthday, everyone, including each child, got a gift for Sebastien. They presented it to him like a ceremony and filmed it for us. Sebastien has been playing with the toy cars he received ever since then. Both Jerome and I were deeply moved by the initiative that our carers had taken to make Sebastien feel loved and safe at all times, especially during these COVID-19 times that have prevented our in-person visits.

Hard as it has been, we are deeply grateful to have made it through this complex terrain to carve out this Bali Bubble and build an extended family across borders!

For those who are interested to support Sebastien's artistic pursuits:-

Sebastien’s original paintings: https://www.amotherswish.com.sg/shop?Collection=Paintings

Digital versions of Sebastien’s art for Patreon sponsors and epubs with insights about his artistic life: https://www.patreon.com/sebautisticart (you can support his existence for as little as USD5/month!)

Merchandise featuring Sebastien’s art can be found here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/jpoudevigne/explore?page=1&sortOrder=recent, https://www.amotherswish.com.sg/shop?Collection=Accessories

Thank you so much!