The composition of Terrace Cultivation is typical of Goh Beng Kwan's paper collage works. This 2001 artwork is composed in Goh’s well-known style of building horizontal colour layers in the central area of the canvas, simulating a landscape. The work is achieved by collaging paper of varying colours and textures over the painting's surface. At times, the tears and scuffs of the paper that result from working the surface are made into bits of highly-textured relief. 

Goh developed his abstract collage works during his student days in New York in the early 1960s. This became his signature method for many years, as he developed his personal visual language. In many works such as Terrace Cultivation, Goh has used Chinese rice papers and other materials that have strong cultural associations.
  
Other works by Goh Beng Kwan in the Singtel collection include New Era (2001), Transformation (2006), and Lotus Pond (2009).