{"id":567643,"date":"2026-07-03T21:55:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/567643\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T21:55:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:55:42","slug":"beloved-twig-art-uncle-dies-at-83-leaves-behind-a-quiet-legacy-of-pavement-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/567643\/","title":{"rendered":"Beloved \u2018Twig Art Uncle\u2019 Dies At 83, Leaves Behind A Quiet Legacy Of Pavement Art"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/saysdotcom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@saysdotcom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">TikTok<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029VZzynzi6RGJG0QbRfy3O\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WhatsApp<\/a>\u00a0for the latest stories and breaking news.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/says.com\/my\/lifestyle\/singaporean-uncle-goes-viral-for-creating-art-with-sticks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">elderly man<\/a> known for creating artwork using twigs on pavements in Pek Kio, Singapore, has passed away at the age of 83<\/p>\n<p>Known as Uncle Thien, or Thien Yeok Lin, he died on 1 July after recently falling ill, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DaS4QhHlGGc\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tributes<\/a> shared by his family and community members. <\/p>\n<p>Uncle Thien was a well-loved figure in his neighbourhood for years. Every day, he could be seen sitting quietly on the pavement, carefully arranging twigs into detailed drawings. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/RPy2tklB-image.png\" alt=\"SAYS.com\"  \/>Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=2960274940843155&amp;set=p.2960274940843155&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Terry Taeri Taeri (Facebook)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>His artworks often featured human figures and characters inspired by Chinese folklore<\/p>\n<p>He first gained wider attention in 2020, when photos of his twig art went viral online. <\/p>\n<p>Many were impressed by how he could turn simple twigs into detailed and creative portraits.<\/p>\n<p>For years, he continued this quiet routine in Pek Kio, often creating a new piece every day and sometimes even taking requests from nearby residents.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TKM3q4gK-image.png\" alt=\"SAYS.com\"  \/>Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=24239660022391517&amp;set=p.24239660022391517&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Delia Corn (Facebook)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/dsdKlZes-image.png\" alt=\"SAYS.com\" style=\"width:540px;height:auto\"  \/>Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=2219185151929140&amp;set=p.2219185151929140&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Shawn Lim (Facebook)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5Ykga9CZ-image.png\" alt=\"SAYS.com\"  \/>Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10223236555742392&amp;set=p.10223236555742392&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Winnie Chan (Facebook)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kjs3hHjs-image.png\" alt=\"SAYS.com\"  \/>Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=24507651352259048&amp;set=gm.4102967163292504&amp;idorvanity=2961522894103609\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Delia Corn (Facebook)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Before becoming known for his twig art, Uncle Thien had worked as a hawker, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com\/living\/viral-stick-art-uncle-died-585481\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CNA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In a tribute, Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Alvin Tan described him as a cherished presence in Pek Kio, saying he found joy in his daily routine of making art outdoors<\/p>\n<p>Tan, who also attended the wake, said Uncle Thien was deeply appreciated by the community and will be missed by those who came across his work.<\/p>\n<p>Since news of his passing, many have been sharing his twig artworks online again, remembering the quiet man who turned everyday debris into meaningful art.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"img-fluid\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BlzkFRv1-image.png\" alt=\"\"  \/>Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10163176368302076&amp;set=p.10163176368302076&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Edwina C Thong (Facebook)<\/a><br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on\u00a0Instagram,\u00a0TikTok, and\u00a0WhatsApp\u00a0for the latest stories and breaking news. The elderly man known for creating artwork using&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[595,365,362,363,364,366,18,117,19,17,5,1999,10690,242178,242179,5448],"class_list":["post-567643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-art","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-singapore","tag-stick","tag-twig","tag-uncle","tag-viral"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116858279110296705","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}