I am a Japanese and Chinese-Singaporean artist having lived in Japan, Singapore and SanDiego, California. Currently based in London, I am studying Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design.
I explore culture, gender, identity and storytelling within my fine art practice using installation, performance and video. Aside from my fine art practice, I have an ongoing illustration series. |
Artist Statement
Being Japanese and Chinese-Singaporean, and having lived in Japan, Singapore, California and now London, I have struggled with my identity. It is why my current practice, developing in my final year of the BA Fine Art course at Chelsea College of Arts, deals with this struggle. In my film Singapore Girl, you’re a great way to…(2017), I play a reimagined persona of the Singapore Airline stewardess or ‘Singapore Girl’ to explore the exotification and idealisation of Asian women (or otherwise known as Asia-exotica). Feeling disconnected from my heritage, I perform the Singapore Girl as a way to reconnect with my cultural identity and, at times, attempt to redefine it.
Passionate about Singapore’s contemporary art scene, I wrote my dissertation titled, Reflections from Golden Spaces: An exploration into Singapore’s Contemporary Art Scene. It explores Singapore’s attempt to transform their cultural dessert into The art hub of Southeast Asia. In a country that views art as an economic and national tool, its punishment and reward system has a massive influence on the practices of local artists and the production of art. Intrigued by the relationship between artist, public and government in a country going through a major cultural shift, I followed Priyageetha Dia, an up-coming artist who recently sparked controversy in Singapore when she gold-foiled a staircase within a public housing property. With the aid of several interviews with Dia and other case studies, my investigation explored, not the controversy itself, but the conditions that transformed it into a local viral sensation—How do artists navigate their practice in Singapore? What territories do they (un)occupy? And how do artists condition themselves to sustain their practice? Using gold and ‘The White Cube’ as a metaphor, I pose a larger question: What are issues in the Singapore art scene and what does it need?
Singapore is beginning to realize the value of art beyond its commerciality, viewing art more than just a product for sale. There is a focus on nurturing the relationship between artist and audience. I am currently furthering my exploration into Singapore’s contemporary art scape as an extension to my dissertation. I am interested in understanding Singapore’s relationship to Western and global art scenes and identifying how others view contemporary Singaporean art practices within non-Asian contexts—How is Singaporean art exotified and presented? I aim to figure out how I, as an artist can communicate contemporary Asian art to non-Asian audiences without the problematic label of ‘Asian Art’ in the process.
Being Japanese and Chinese-Singaporean, and having lived in Japan, Singapore, California and now London, I have struggled with my identity. It is why my current practice, developing in my final year of the BA Fine Art course at Chelsea College of Arts, deals with this struggle. In my film Singapore Girl, you’re a great way to…(2017), I play a reimagined persona of the Singapore Airline stewardess or ‘Singapore Girl’ to explore the exotification and idealisation of Asian women (or otherwise known as Asia-exotica). Feeling disconnected from my heritage, I perform the Singapore Girl as a way to reconnect with my cultural identity and, at times, attempt to redefine it.
Passionate about Singapore’s contemporary art scene, I wrote my dissertation titled, Reflections from Golden Spaces: An exploration into Singapore’s Contemporary Art Scene. It explores Singapore’s attempt to transform their cultural dessert into The art hub of Southeast Asia. In a country that views art as an economic and national tool, its punishment and reward system has a massive influence on the practices of local artists and the production of art. Intrigued by the relationship between artist, public and government in a country going through a major cultural shift, I followed Priyageetha Dia, an up-coming artist who recently sparked controversy in Singapore when she gold-foiled a staircase within a public housing property. With the aid of several interviews with Dia and other case studies, my investigation explored, not the controversy itself, but the conditions that transformed it into a local viral sensation—How do artists navigate their practice in Singapore? What territories do they (un)occupy? And how do artists condition themselves to sustain their practice? Using gold and ‘The White Cube’ as a metaphor, I pose a larger question: What are issues in the Singapore art scene and what does it need?
Singapore is beginning to realize the value of art beyond its commerciality, viewing art more than just a product for sale. There is a focus on nurturing the relationship between artist and audience. I am currently furthering my exploration into Singapore’s contemporary art scape as an extension to my dissertation. I am interested in understanding Singapore’s relationship to Western and global art scenes and identifying how others view contemporary Singaporean art practices within non-Asian contexts—How is Singaporean art exotified and presented? I aim to figure out how I, as an artist can communicate contemporary Asian art to non-Asian audiences without the problematic label of ‘Asian Art’ in the process.