The “charcoal feast” of Oon Cheng Yeow’s title carries a double meaning – a lavish, special meal cooked over charcoal, and a celebratory work made in the charcoal medium.

In this work, a night hawker prepares char kway teow at a night market in Penang. The artist writes about char kuey teow as “one of the most beloved foods in Penang” and that, “as a native of Penang, the delicacy, along with the vibrant atmosphere of our night markets, has been deeply embedded in my memory”.

There is nothing obviously lavish about the scene before us. We find ourselves coming up close to the hawker, as if about to make an order. His is an ordinary stall, a neat, contained space, the few simple ingredients at close hand on the work surface – a tray of cooked kway teow, bottles of oil and sauces, a tupperware of taugeh, a styrofoam box of prawns, perhaps. The hawker is clearly a veteran, held-together and assured, not even looking at the wok chan he is manoeuvering deftly with his right hand. He has a thoughtful look in his eyes, as if listening to something you have said. He wears a mask, indicating that this scene is current or recent.

Likewise, the artist’s handling of the charcoal medium is economical but effective. Everything is crisp, clean, spare and yet with a sensitive attention to detail. The white ground of the paper captures different effects of light, from the flame and sparks of the charcoal fire and the bright glow of overhead lamps, to the street light bouncing off the shutters and grills of the shophouse across the road. We note the sheen of the wok, the worn-down wood of the box of bottles, the soft fuzz of the hawker’s silver hair, a slight dent in the edge of the aluminium work surface.

The joint “feast” here seems particularly wonderful coming out of the humble material of charcoal. Its richness lies in the expertise and skill of the makers, time and dedication, and the preciousness of a remembered experience to be shared with others.