Artists-in-Residence: PG Lee, Lee Chang Ming, David Koh, Dylan Chan, and Tan Wei Keong

ARTIST STUDIO RESIDENCY 

Under the Artist Studio Residency, Singapore-based photographers, filmmakers, and visual artists working in lens-based mediums are provided with valuable space to develop projects in a conducive environment. The recipients of the 2022 Artist Studio Residency were selected via an open call, read on to find out more about the artists and their projects. we welcomed artists PG Lee (Jul 2022), David Koh (Aug 2022), Dylan Chan (Oct 2022) and Tan Wei Keong (Nov 2022) to our space. Read on to find

PG LEE – JUN 2022

PG Lee (Pheng Guan Lee) (b.1974) is a visual artist with an MFA from LASALLE College of the Arts and a degree in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, University of Lon- don. Practicing primarily in the media of video, sculpture, and installation; Lee frequently includes performances in his work; as he examines the ephemeral nature of human exis- tence coupled with personal and collective memories. He has exhibited locally and interna- tionally and had his first solo show, Weight/less, in 2015 at the Institute for Contemporary Arts in Singapore. More recently, he participated in the 2018 Asia Culture Center Arts Space Network Residency at the ACC ASIAPLEX Studio in Gwangju, South Korea.

During the residency, PG Lee researched on the role of horticulture in Singapore’s urban planning and governance, with reference to its roots in Singapore’s colonial history. Through focusing his research on the governance of pre- and post-independence Singapore, PG Lee worked with selected plants (such as rubber trees) and materials, to draw parallels between approaches to gardening and ‘running’ a country. The works are projected to take the form of video installations, sculptures, and performances.

LEE CHANG MING – MAR to JUL 2022

Lee Chang Ming is an artist from Singapore working across photography, publishing, video and writing, and is interested in themes of intimacy, gender, environment and the everyday. His practice contemplates the subjective act of looking and the photographic medium as a process, exploring ideas of optics and haptics. He also runs Nope Fun, an independent publisher and platform focusing on photography and contemporary image making. He is currently an MFA student in the Environmental Art & Social Practice programme at UC Santa Cruz.

From Mar to Jul 2022, Chang Ming worked on Site Unseen, our adapted studio residency by Objectifs that invites artists and image makers to create site-specific image-based works for spaces outside of a conventional gallery. During his studio residency in Jul 2022, Chang Ming worked on two projects that revolved around the idea of the materiality of images expressed through the book form as a physical medium. One of his projects, Chromatic, is a series of experimental photograms about materiality and mortality. Chang Ming also took the time to contemplate expanding on his project Virtue & Virility, which was published as a zine in 2018. The project seeks to highlight the intriguing ways gay men choose to present themselves in virtual space through photography and text, and looks at questions of masculinity, sexuality, and self-portrayal. Chang Ming also worked on Site Unseen, our adapted studio residency by Objectifs that invites artists and image makers to create site-specific image-based works for spaces outside of a conventional gallery.

 

DAVID KOH – AUG 2022

David Koh is an artist and filmmaker currently based in London. His work focuses on the relationship between digital culture, the individual, and the environment. He explores the fragmentation of narrative and the subjectivity of truth in today’s post-truth digital world. David is currently pursuing his MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins.

During the residency, David examined Singapore’s connection and relationship between nature/technology, urban/natural space, development/preservation through a range of mediums, from 35mm film, archival images, and AI. The project expands on his interest in exploring the theme of reconfiguring narrative space and form, particularly cinematic narrative.

DYLAN CHAN – OCT 2022

Dylan Chan is a Singapore based artist who’s interest is centred around the examination of spacial relationships between the personal and public, and how the body navigates these complexities. Sitting on the cusp between image and object making, his inquiry in space begins introspectively branching outwards, bringing into focus, human agency and self-reflection, surrounding the ways which we dwell in space and what we dwell with.

During the residency, he explored ideas of a threshold found within the domestic. By looking at the ways in which space is delineated via the means of material, he hopes to further expand upon these relationships and the forms it can possibly take on.

TAN WEI KEONG – NOV 2022

Tan Wei Keong is an animation filmmaker who explores his gay identity through personal storytelling and fantasy worlds. He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents and SFFILM FilmHouse Residency 2022. He is currently developing his next short and feature. His film, Kingdom (2018), has been selected to compete at the Berlin International Film Festival. His films have achieved recognition on numerous occasions at the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), including the Best Singapore Short Film Award for Between Us Two (2017), Special Mention for Hush Baby (2009) and the Special Achievement Award for White (2007). His highly acclaimed body of work received international recognition at many film festivals, including those at Annecy, Zagreb, Stuttgart and Toronto. He was awarded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2019. Wei Keong’s interest in new media led to exhibition pieces including Muybridge’s Birds (2021), a video collaboration with Jim Campbell projected from the top of the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco; and Notes of the Lighthouse Keepers (2016), which was shown at Headlands Center for the Arts in California.

During the residency, he worked on the animation process of his 10-minute animated short film, More Than Happy, which tells the story of two gay and lesbian couples who are on dates at a restaurant in space.