IB ART EXHIBITION
ARTIST STATEMENT
As a child, I perpetually thought about how boring reality can be. I would read fantastical stories, disappearing completely into worlds which were not my own. As I grew older and experienced struggles with school, self-esteem and social expectations, I turned once again to this desire to leave reality and escape my world. As a history student, I studied the Great Depression and how it coincided with the Golden Age of Hollywood, which made me even more interested in how humans long for distraction from their suffering and seek releases of dopamine in their brains. In a modern context, this exists with the increasing use of Netflix binges and social media, as we hope to forget about our troubles.
This is commonly known as the cultural phenomenon of escapism.
However, I do not see escapism as merely seeking superficial distraction. To me, simple acts of escapism can have a profound effect on a person, extending far beyond materialistic remedies, providing some form of indescribable sanctuary where one can feel safe and untouched by the harshness of reality. To me, escapism is an essential coping mechanism to heal hurt or sadness, no longer being something I did unknowingly as a child.
Hence, my works explore the concept of struggling with your individual reality, seeking out feelings of freedom and utilising your imagination as a great escape. My pieces take inspiration from real life to generate a fantasy world, probing viewers to see beyond the surreality of the artwork and reflect on their perception of life. Of course, humans won’t walk on clouds, Chinatown will not turn into a magic forest and dolphins will not swim in Venice, but the fact that us humans have the ability to imagine up such realities and immerse ourselves in the idea that they are real, through books, movies or art, demonstrates the beauty of escapism.
My purpose is to allow viewers to reflect on what they wish to escape from and appreciate their ability to. Utilising our human habit of reading from left to right to arrange my exhibition, the pieces may be viewed in a sequential order, taking the audience on an internal journey.
PIECES
1. A Shattered Reality
A Shattered Reality
30 x 31 x 31 cm
Mixed media sculpture
Mirrors, symbolising our perception of reality, were incised with a laser cutter and broken. Each shard was then hung precariously with wire. Inspired by artist Michael Murphy, the pieces fit together as you walk in front of the sculpture, but fall apart easily - like reality. Even when it seems you have found the best line of sight, there are still gaps: reality is never perfect. The incisions on each piece show how the mirror (reality) will forever be flawed. What has shattered your reality?
.jpg)
2. Coping
Coping
85 x 60 cm
Photography
This piece intentionally contrasts the others to show how drastically pain and suffering alters one’s reality. The intense shadows symbolise the all-consuming nature of sadness, the pills (pain relievers or antidepressants) being the only source of light. Building on my previous piece, the atmosphere of this one may cause viewers to reflect on their own temporary solutions to suffering or negative forms of escapism. I hope viewers can come to understand how merely coping is no way to live life.
3. Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphins
Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphins
102 x 102 cm
Photography
Dubbed “the happy hormones”, Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphins are chemicals which stabilise our moods, provide feelings of pleasure, and create happiness. They help us escape sadness to feel joy, showing that reality cannot tie us down - in fact the very things you need to feel freedom are right there in your brain. From this piece onwards, the colours of my works become more vivid and saturated, showing how a change of mentality and embracing of escapism can bring colour and joy into life.
4. Greetings From The Place That Doesn't Exist
Greetings From The Place That Doesn’t Exist
45 x 99 cm
Collage
This series of postcards from the fantastical, non-existent place in my head, present my daydreams and fantasies in a tangible form. I cut up images from various magazines, collecting items and backgrounds, blending them together in collage - literally building my own world. I chose to make them as postcards as, though this world doesn’t exist and is clearly fake, I send greetings from it. No matter how painful reality can be, we’ll always have our imaginations to wander in. Where do you go to?
5. Chinatown
Chinatown
22.5 x 21 cm
Colour pencil on paper
It’s easy to feel that our fantasies are much better than real life. However, our imaginations would not exist without reality and inspirations from the tangible everyday. Exploring common surrealist motifs like the eye and nature, this retelling of Singapore’s Chinatown not only pays homage to my inner imagination, but the lack of it I would have if not for the vibrant world around me. To make my message more relatable, I appealed to my Singaporean audience by drawing a classic local scene.
6. Look Mom, My Imagination's On The News!
Look Mom, My Imagination’s On The News!
29 x 65 cm
Pencil on paper
This year, fake news circulated of dolphins swimming in Venice, elephants drunk in Chinese vineyards, and lions policing the streets of Russia. It was as if these images were taken right out of the fantasy worlds in my head. In a way, our society used such humorous fake news as escapism from COVID-19. I used pencil on paper, leaving the torn ring binder edge, to make it seem like these scenes were drawn from observation, probing viewers to imagine that they could’ve been real in another world.
7. “For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own”
“For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own”
59 x 42 cm
Chalk pastel and colored pencil on paper
To me, dreams act as a remedy, restorative, and antidote as we are able to escape this world for the night, immersed in subconscious. The multiple faces symbolise how dreams allow us to be in multiple places at once. If you embrace the power of your mind and imagination, as you do subconsciously when you dream, you can be free from physical reality. The pastel aesthetic of this piece intends to create feelings of comfort, also referencing the fact that people often dream in pastel colours.
8. Great Escape
Great Escape
31 x 27 x 24 cm
Styrofoam sculpture
Once again, I invited my viewers to walk around a sculpture. Inspired by the artist Julian Voss-Andreae, they would see the face disappear as they walked in front of it - symbolising escapism and the leaving of reality. As the last exhibition piece, I wanted audiences to know that whenever they were consumed with the feeling that reality is unbearable, changing their perspective is as simple as taking a single step.
EXHIBITION SPACE
