Tay Bak Chiang’s imagery is rooted in nature and related themes. In the world that he reconstructs in his paintings, tiny animals inhabit the natural landscape, peering out with curious eyes. Birds, fish and frogs dot the composition of leaves and foliage. This work Lotus (Untainted) is in the horizontal format of Chinese painting. Its extended narrative flowing from right to left begins with delicate lotus flowers floating in the negative space of a pond. An expanse of fresh green and yellow leaves in abstraction follow, ending with a solitary lotus pod.

The mood of Tay's work is light, expressing a joy in the natural forms he paints. Tay's work of the 2010s is, in contrast, much more abstracted and graphic. 

Other works by Tay Bak Chiang in the Singtel collection are A Fleeting Moment (2005) and Tranquility (2005), a set of three paintings.