From a sculptor who makes disquieting pieces out of hair and skin-like silicone to a fashion veteran turned abstract painter, Keng Yang Shuen spotlights five emerging Singapore-based artists who’ve captured our imagination in recent times.
DIVAAGAR
Visual artist Divaagar, 27, has made a name in creating lush, sensorial installations. A notable work staged last July at The Substation, Singapore Is For Lovers, saw him transforming, among other things, a toilet cubicle into a luminous space awash in hot pink light, plants and fur. His practice involves exploring identities and the body through a reimagination of physical spaces and environments, but he does so in a manner that is deeply personal. “I’m very invested in what’s happening in my physical environment, social movements and the emotional states of people around me, and what I try to do is encapsulate these sensations and experiences and frame them through the installations,” explains Divaagar.
DELPHINE RAMA
Like Raf Simons collaborator Sterling Ruby, Belgian painter Delphine Rama, 31, flits easily between the worlds of art and fashion. Scrolling through her Instagram account (@dine_ rama), it’s evident that she’s an artist who knows her fashion trends – and the latter, alongside personal favourites such as the abstract art movement, influences her paintings. “I have always been fascinated by the stories of fashion designers; the colour range used in certain collections inspire me,” says Rama. Fashion entities as diverse as design collective Vaquera, model Jazzelle Zanaughtti, Balenciaga and Hermes have all been namechecked on her Instagram as the inspiration for her colourful abstract paintings. Likewise, the painting she created for this story was inspired by the “femininity” of rising South Sudanese model Aweng Chuol, who “embodies a poetic universe”, according to Rama.
PATRICK SIN
Fashion personalities who elope for the art world are not unheard of – Helmut Lang being the most famous and (for now) permanent example. Tracing a similar route is one Patrick Sin, a familiar face in the local fashion industry, having previously occupied roles such as merchandiser, stylist and fashion editor throughout his 25-year career. He professes to have long had a desire to try painting but it wasn’t until 2017 when he took a chance at a friend’s art jam that he decided to enrol for a full-time course on abstract art at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Since then, he’s been participating in group shows, most notably Favourite Things, a well-received group show held at The Arts House last November together with fellow fashion industry veterans Tan Woon Chor and
Sherli Chong who, like him, were keen on trying their hand at art. His long years in fashion have undeniably had some influence on his abstract expressionist paintings, in particular his sensitivity to colour – of which he skilfully blends anything from pastels to rich jewel tones in broad, heavily textured strokes. They call to mind art greats like Mark Rothko but Sin, 50, admits that he’s still very much in the process of developing his signature style. While he still freelances as a fashion consultant and stylist, his main aim now is to continue honing his craft. “I chose painting because I still wanted to be creative with what I do – but for myself (now),” says Sin. And as he puts it, making art can be and is a therapeutic process. Next up: He’s planning a group show that might represent an evolution in the slow living movement – fashion and design folks who elevate ordinary, everyday items into something more precious and unique. “It’s a good way to live with fewer, but special, things; I think this may make for a more sustainable lifestyle.”
KARA INEZ
FARIS NAKAMURA
When viewed head-on, Faris Nakamura’s spare, seemingly minimalist sculptures can appear a tad two-dimensional. But unlike works that may be more immediately attention-grabbing – and to be coarse, Instagram-friendly – his art is best experienced in person. What may not be easily evident are obscured passageways, stairways and various small nooks and crannies that can only be found through active viewing – when viewers take the time and pain to examine the works from different angles.
The line of thought would be to assume his architectural pieces derive from a background in the field. But the Malay-Japanese artist was actually a flautist with the Singapore Youth Wind Orchestra prior to committing full-time to fine arts. A lack of personal space growing up with five siblings led to a growing fascination with certain public spaces (the paraphernalia of HDB blocks such as void decks and stairwells are a recurrent motif) and how people engage them beyond their intended purposes. “I wanted to understand the attachment and detachments people have towards spaces, how these relationships develop and the impact; these (utilitarian) spaces that we so often see as what they are and not what they could (potentially) be.”
