Singapore doesn't have a huge art scene compared to some other countries
but we do have a really talented pool of artists across many disciplines.
In fact, you might have come across some of their works in public spaces
or even on social media and didn't blink an eye.
I myself am guilty of this,
you see a piece of art, you acknowledge it
but you don't really think twice about it,
you just glance through and pass right by it.
Today we're gonna dive straight into the heart of an artist
and find out what it takes to make art here in this country.
I'm going to be meeting three Singaporean artists in their own right
to find out more about their craft.
Qi Xuan is a sculptor who has found a strong following on social media
for her miniature artworks that are a blend of creepy and cute.
Why creepy and cute?
I have always been more attracted to storytelling
and like characters that are not entirely good or evil,
like there is always this conflict within people
and I think that all of us have these two sides.
My art is kind of trying to find that balance
like threading between what some people find really beautiful
and some find really grotesque.
How did it even start?
It was Chinese New Year period
and then there were these like pistachio shells.
I just thought what if I replaced the seed with a head.
I thought it was really funny
so I put it on social media
and then all my friends are like, "Yeah you should make like a walnut baby!".
All this other... A lot of different suggestions came in.
I think that was sort of the turning point
because it was when I started to realise, Hey i like taking things from everyday
and try to create something special and unique
and I think that was sort of how it started, style wise.
A lot of people that will come to me are curious about buying them
but then like nine out of ten are actually not serious.
They're just asking for a price and then they expect it to be $50 and it is not.
Currently my works are sold at around $2500 to $3500 in galleries.
So this is your workstation.
So to start everything,
it would be of course with conceptualisation.
Can you tell us a little bit more about that and how you get to the other steps?
If you look at the body of works that i have, they usually happen in series.
So it's like the whole dim sum series or the whole sweet tooth series.
Then I would do research.
Like even for my dim sum series, i went to Din Tai Fung a few times,
I really just ate dim sum, ate dim sum.
Perfect excuse right! Take pictures.
So usually that process itself takes a while
because I will have something in mind i'll grow on it for a long time
before actually executing the work.
So usually I start with polymer clay, which is a mix of plastic and normal clay.
I think because it has a bit of plastic in it so it gives like a very nice matte sheen,
which is kind of nice when i'm trying to make like things that have a fleshy texture
because it's not overly glossy and doesn't look like it's a halloween prop.
What you see here with all these different colours, I didn't buy them like this.
So what I do is I usually mix in my own colours. i usually use this like soft pastels.
The next step is I'll take the clay and use these tool to work in the features.
I see a couple of makeup sets over here
but i'm assuming we're using that to kind of paint the face,
Just like how you would paint a normal human perfectly sized...
Yeah.
It was an accidental discovery.
Because I actually started out not having any of these like fancy pastels.
So I actually just thought maybe I'll use my own blush to put on the colour,
but then it was only after I tried it then I realised that it gives a more lifelike
and a more glowy appearance, like once colours are applied
I have to put them in the oven for it to harden.
Wait when you talk about baking,
are we talking about using a different kind of equipment to bake
or am I thinking like it's the same method as I would if i'm cooking something?
It's the exact same oven so...
I know that it's not best practice, it's not something that that i should
encourage everyone to do, but then right now I share that particular oven
with my family so what I usually do after baking is
I always have to make sure that I air it properly, that I clean it all down
to make sure that nothing toxic is left behind.
Does your mom like ever open the oven.... you know...
At some point she goes like Ahh!
Yeah usually I have to warn her like before...
Mum I'm baking brains.
For lunch. Or like don't get a shock okay,
I'm gonna bake my babies at night then she'll be like "Ohh okay sure".
I'm here at the studio of Kumari Nahappan,
even if you've never heard of her you've most definitely seen her works across spaces
like Ion Orchard, One Farrer and Changi Airport.
So today, we're gonna find out what goes into making art with Kumari
and Kumari mostly does these big bronze sculptures.
One of your more famous artworks is the nutmeg,
how long did it take to construct it, start to finish?
Took me about 18 months. I got some nutmegs from Penang.
I did as many photographs as I can of it then started opening them up
and eventually came up with one that I actually felt it spoke to me.
Initially I start off with sketches.
After the sketches and everything, I worked on a model.
Once the small model has been cast, I would go on to making an enlargement of this.
I will have to cut it up into parts to cast parts of it
and then join them all together to come up with a large work.
The nutmeg was actually cast in 53 parts.
Unfortunately we do not have a foundry in Singapore so the casting is done in Thailand.
How do you connect the dots then after everything's been completed?
They are welded together.
Once they are welded together because you know you could see the joints,
then we will do a bit of tacking and touch-up of the pieces,
it will then we call it another stage that's called "Chasing".
and once Chasing is all finished, you don't see any joints in them, that's when we introduce the colour.
There is a process called Patination.
We don't paint them we use a torch and we use acids,
so we actually light a torch and heat the metal.
The metal gets very excited it starts eating the acids.
On one hand you use a torch on the other hand you use the acid with the pigment
and you actually go on like sponging it a bit or touching up.
How long does it approximately take you to ship it all the way back
and how heavy does it weigh?
The weight is about 2.3 tonnes and because the nutmeg could never fit into a container,
because the container can only take something up to 2.2 metres high,
this was way beyond so it had to actually travel on open deck
where it's exposed to the elements so when it arrives,
you actually have to touch up everything here so it took about 10 days.
To get to Ion we actually had to request for permission from LTA
because we had to block one lane when it arrived to use a crane to take it across to the site.
There's so much that goes into the creation of an art piece, how do you determine its' price?
With the casting and with the logistics and with the artist fee,
it works anything around $280,000 to $300,000 for a public artwork.
How do you feel you know when you see your artworks in public spaces and people are taking photos of it?
Actually it makes me really happy that it engages with people,
Hopefully it brings a smile to their face.
Zul is an artist known for integrating sounds into his art pieces.
One of his most famous artworks is Sonic Pathway which can be found at the Mapletree Business Park.
Sound art is not really a common type of art form so I'm very interested to have my questions answered.
Instead of looking at art, you just listen to art.
Up till now I think it's also difficult to really explain to people okay what's this art form it's about,
because either you're a musician or a sound engineer or you do...
Sometimes I can feel quite lonely because not many people are doing it in Singapore.
So why sound?
I don't talk too much, I like to listen.
For me every sound is very interesting, all these has its' own rhythm and also its own melody.
I'm thinking about conceptualisation for you, what inspires you to really start?
I always have a recorder with me,
I just let it record whenever I take a public transport or I go to parks,
these are just like my sound sketches.
These are some of the small devices that I do for my recording.
This one is actually a binaural microphone, so basically I put on my ear
and I record whatever i'm hearing so people are not intimidated by your devices right
because they thought that you're just listening to music.
For me I come from a sculpture background so I like to DIY things.
So I created this like a parabolic microphone.
There's a microphone here, attached to a recorder basically it's for far distance recording.
so you can actually pick up from let's say...
200 metres.
This is I'm assuming it's where you create something from all the pieces that you've got back.
Yeah that's right I mean like all the samples that i've been recording
so i just put it into this program it's like editing software.
It's almost like you're creating music but in a very very different way.
Yeah because I think it's like... No I'm not musically trained but I guess
if you listen carefully to all these natural sounds or everyday sound,
there's a certain pattern or rhythm or melody to it.
Basically you create a composition of it, like a soundscape you know.
Once the soundtrack is completed, what is usually the next step for you?
The next step will be fabrication, building the actual piece.
Like let's say for copper pipes, assembling it getting all the materials and you know just join it.
So yeah it's basically building to my specification what I want.
When the fabrication is done, I'll install all these like the speakers then after that,
install it at the actual space.
Then I will design how's the sound going to be,
the loudness or the softness of the sound and also at which point the sound is coming from.
We've come to the end of today's episode
and honestly, I have found a new sense of appreciation and respect for our local artists.
So the next time you pass by their works in public or on social media, you'll know what it took to get there.
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I'll see you in the next one!