Ayka Go, collage study 9.12, 2022, oil on canvas, 243.5 x 213 cm

It is the reality of everyday life that we are torn and we are gathered – defamiliarised and refamiliarised. Ayka Go ponders this cycle using small gestures of impermanent paper collages captured and frozen in a moment through large-scale oil paintings.

Through his seminal 1933 essay “In Praise of Shadows,” eminent Japanese novelist Tanizaki Junichiro mulls over a discourse in aesthetics, primarily one that had been inherent in Japan and how it has been subsumed by styles coming in from the West. As the title suggests, shadows play a central role, particularly in interiors. More than from a bright light source, it is through shadows and its ever so slight gradients — barely discernible at times — that a vast spectrum of nuances that greatly change appeal and meaning are able to manifest themselves. It is in clear opposition to the Western practice of illuminating every nook and corner, putting everything out of its mystery.

Currently, the artist’s oeuvre includes an array of trompe l’oeil compositions largely inspired by childhood paper-folding activities with her father, including origami, collages, and just about anything possible for playtime. While they bring to mind the hyperrealist paper renderings of Claudio Bravo, they transcend the realism through an almost Magrittean play on imagery and meaning. On the surface it feels something as simple as nostalgia for children’s playthings, but there is always a flipside to every story.

Venue: Yavuz Gallery Singapore

When: 16 Jul - 14 Aug 2022,

By: Yavuz Gallery