Page 20 - NAFA Annual Report 2015/2016

Art Stage Singapore 2016

Three outstanding Fine Art alumni artists presented their works at
Art Stage Singapore 2016, Southeast Asia’s flagship art fair and the
anchor event of the Singapore Art Week. The pieces were created
from the inner workings of each artist, all who work with different
mediums. Drawing inspiration from the innocence of children and toys,
Catherine Lo explored using wood cuts to portray a darker side of
humanity and societies. Koh Chaik Hong, the top winner of the Young
Architectural Photographer Award as part of the CDL Singapore
Young Photographer Award 2014 and a first prize recipient of the
inaugural Woon Tai Jee Art Prize, struggled with the dilemma between
the conservation of nature and urban development in a photo series.
Emerging ceramicist Zestro Leow Wen Jin considered the roles of
beauty and function in his delicate Shinto-inspired pieces.
Art Stage Singapore 2016 was held at the Marina Bay Sands
Expo and Convention Centre.

Emotional Landscapes
at SingaPlural 2016

Presented at the anchor event of the annual Singapore Design
Week, SingaPlural 2016 was themed Senses – The Art and Science
of Experiences. Emotional Landscapes was a collaboration between
NAFA’s School of Art and Design (SOAD) and natural stones specialist
Polystone. Students and alumni from SOAD’s 3D Design and Fine Art
programmes ideated, conceptualised and developed not just designs
with the ubiquitous table as their main inspiration, landscape and
creative springboard, but also sculptural artworks in natural stones
such as marble and onyx. The lifestyle items were designed by 13
participating students from the 3D Design programme. There were
students from different cohorts under the three-year Diploma in Design
courses; undergraduates reading Bachelor of Arts (Hons) 3D Design:
New Practice; and an alumna. The participants worked exclusively with
Polystone, who assisted with the manufacturing and production of the
lifestyle items that were on display.

Student-led interdisciplinary project INTERSPACE

The first-ever student-led interdisciplinary project, INTERSPACE, broke ground on
15 March 2016. It was driven by a team of four resourceful students from the Fine Art and
Arts Management courses, namely Hubert Loi, Winnie Yip, Jollyn Wee and Gabriel Ching.
This project put together five collaborative artworks created by 13 artists from different
disciplines, and aimed to explore the transitional and ambiguous spaces between design
and art. Innovative and quirky in their vision, a perfectly banal and forgotten space was
brought to life as NAFA campus parking lots were used as exhibition space.

Self-initiated projects like INTERSPACE promote ownership and resourcefulness,
encouraging students to innovate and become entrepreneurial.

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