This exhibition will be the first group show of the photography majors from the NTU School of Art, Design and Media. As a platform to introduce the students’ works to the public, this exhibition will provide them with the invaluable opportunity to experience the process of preparing for an exhibition and to receive much needed firsthand feedback from the audience.
About the Exhibition
Variegation is the occurrence of different coloured pigmentation in the leaves and stems of plants. The term is often used to denote something that is celebrated for its distinct variety, in this case, 20 artists hailing from different backgrounds and experiences, coming together to form a network of ideas on the relationship between photography and reality. Harnessing inspiration from their own familiar living and working environments, these artists explore their interpretation of a multitude of areas such as psychological, social, cultural, and political. And they experiment with the visual illustration and constitution of these environments.
In detail, Pei ling’s documentary project that began with photographing hearing-impaired friends eventually led her research to focus on finding a way to represent sound using visuals and vibration sensations in a mixed media installation. An ethnically diverse group of young photographers, a handful of other artists use their cultural origins to talk about their most personal life stories. Hanis’ work portrays young Muslim adolescents and Andrew’s family portrait reveals hidden and complex familial relationships.
While Lewis’ night photographs of Singapore are emotional, raw documentations of the local landscape, Amanda’s large format work transforms familiar surroundings with an exquisite Chinese painting-like landscape quality. Jasper’s series of black and white images of the fading old Singapore continues the discourse on Singapore and its identity, as with Carrie’s triptych piece, illustrating ‘remembrance’ of life in Singapore from her parents’ memory. Rachel’s work, on the other hand, taps on the vibrant youth scene of current day Singapore, turning night club scenes and flea markets into backdrops for her fashion portraits. Using objects as metaphors, Yixiu and Saraphina represent the unspoken yet unavoidable issues in their lives, courageously coming to terms and dealing with their internal environments. From people and landscapes to still life, the exhibition features creative use of traditional modes of photography as well as high-end digital imaging and installation, fearlessly pushing the boundaries of the two-dimensional image by experimenting with sound, sculpture, needle work and graphic novels.
All participants of this exhibition are currently enrolled in the Photography and Digital Imaging program at the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), Nanyang Technological University. As majority of the exhibiting artists included in this show are at their final year of photographic study at ADM, this show will give a glimpse of the final year project exhibition that will be held in April this year. This group exhibition is a platform to introduce highly acclaimed young artists’ works to a larger audience within the international Art environment.
