Closing the distance, 2020, has been a very meaningful artwork coming out of the lockdown and challenges of the past 12 months, and as this piece has been selected for another exhibition I wanted to give you a bit more insight into the artwork.

(Catch the exhibition curated and hosted at Presentation Arts Centre and commissioned by First Fortnight Festival here.)

This text drawing was made during the lockdown period. It is about the distance and isolation we have all experienced, it is hopeful towards getting back to normality, and it is also about anti-racism and equality. The original piece is drawn with ink pen, and every mark is an alphabet character. My drawings with text seek to show the complexity and richness of multilayered stories that exist within all people. The form takes its start point from my previous works with the ouroborus shape, which is an eternal cycle which hints at life, death and rebirth. It also speaks of metamorphosis and change, interconnection and balance, and the continual reconceptualizing of the universe and the world around us.

“Since early 2020 I was locked out of my art studio but I started to do little sketches on paper, which can be done anywhere. I got quite obsessed with my own hands - one of my only live models. In hindsight I think there is also the influence of my personal focus on washing hands, obsessively being aware of any finger which has touched an outside surface, being conscious that I cannot touch anyone else. Also during this time many inequalities have been shown up by the pandemic, including the higher risks for disadvantaged communities, minority communities, and foreign workers both in Singapore and around the world. I wanted to create an artwork which portrayed balance and equality, openness and inclusivity. Then the murder of George Floyd shocked the world on top of this turmoil of events and emotions we have been living through. Much of my work is about holding space for people who we may perceive as different to ourselves, finding commonalities, understanding and empathy. I decided to make the hands in opposite colours, to inspire the idea of kinship, that those who appear different from us are not so different at all.”

Artwork details

Title: Closing the distance, 2020

Medium: Fine Art Giclee Print of pen drawing

Paper stock: hahnemuehle museum quality paper

Edition: 50