Kayleigh Goh’s Eucalyptus & Turmeric is distinctly sparse and minimalist compared to her past work, typically filled with the rich textures and dramatic shadows of indoor architectural spaces. While she continues her signature cement on wood medium, here she employs flatter colour fields and fainter lines to separate floors and walls and ceilings—allowing space and the light of the pale wood background to dominate. The bareness of the piece then brings attention to a detail at the left centre of the work: a bright yellow rectangular strip. Made of turmeric, the strip sharply stands out amid an otherwise monochrome, blue grey structure.

The piece is part of Goh’s ongoing explorations in injecting fragments of nature, from rocks to flora, in her architectural paintings—blurring boundaries between the outdoor and indoor. Moreover, it reveals Goh’s deepening relationship to her materials: The two new mediums in the piece, turmeric and eucalyptus, take on particularly poignant meaning in the context of Gogh’s oeuvre—in which these vast, empty spaces are known to evoke solace. Known for their healing properties, eucalyptus and turmeric, shown in small yet powerful slivers, lend quiet, visceral comfort to the warm space Goh creates.