Venue: iPreciation (誰先覺), 50 Cuscaden Road, HPL House #01-01, Singapore 249724

Exhibition Opens to Public: 18 Oct – 2 Nov 2019

iPreciation is proud to present a duo exhibition titled Bloom, featuring new works by two young Singaporean female artists, Ashley Yeo and Jodi Tan.

When one mentions the word “bloom”, flowers are the first thing that comes to minds. Flowers have always been known for their natural charms. The floral subject was widely embraced in art of different eras and has evolved in its embodiment in artworks over time. In contemporary art today, the trend of floral being used as an attractive feature or accent has not been seen dwindling. It continues to be used by artists as a source of inspiration, and a concept to work with to create artworks. Apart from being a charmer, or decorative in appearance, how else can we view a flower?

Bloom is an exhibition that hopes to present alternative perceptions and interpretations of floral in a more poetical light through the works of both Ashley and Jodi. The artworks will highlight the borrowing a flower’s presence to explore and present a new perspective on how or what a floral can be in contemporary art by having a simpler and genuine interest in florals.

Ashley takes references from botanical symmetry to create delicate paper cut structures. The lightness and fragility of these works can be related to a flower’s true fragility and impermanence. At the same time, a flower’s natural perseverance and vigour to multiply and survive can be seen within her paper cut art, where floral patterns flow seamlessly from edge to edge. It is in the accumulation of detail in her artworks, where the viewer can see strength and an underlying intensity of a message being silently conveyed.

Jodi questions the significance of a subject matter and one’s perception of it. To her, paintings of flowers have been typecast as decorative or dated, and various symbolisms have been embodied by the use of florals in both classical and ornamental paintings. Her paintings continue to blur the line between figurative and abstraction by disassociation from, or reduction of, the known symbolisms and associated meanings to florals in art. This allows viewers of her art to question – or choose – their interpretation of her floral still life paintings.

Ashley Yeo (b. 1990, Singapore) has graduated with a Master’s Degree in Fine Art from the University of Arts London, Chelsea College of the Art & Design, United Kingdom in 2012. She was the first Singaporean artist to be shortlisted for the LOEWE Craft Prize, London, United Kingdom (2018). Ashley had founded her practice through drawing and has developed her practice of creating artworks of exceptionally light, delicate crafts with meticulous details. Ashley is often inspired by nature, and by taking in the nature of a plant such as flowers; the impermanence, frailty, and delicateness. In her latest practice of papercut art, she demonstrates a slow and light construction that attempts to present an elegant and emotional resonance through the use of the material and repeated patterns. The repetition in her creative process reflects and meditates on the contemporary society of the world that has contributed to an array of anxieties and emptiness. Ashley is interested in presenting new objects in silence that attempts to articulate equanimity, generating a discourse of the obfuscation of things and the epidemics of visual culture.

Jodi Tan (b. 1990, Singapore) has graduated with a B.A. (Honours) in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore in 2011. She was also awarded the Winston Oh Travel Award, Singapore, in the same year. Jodi’s core interest lies in image-making and image reading. As she continues her ongoing series of “Still Life”, her works are often created with found images, which she would derive particular colours or textures that spoke to her, then reconstructs the image in ambiguity, blurring the line between figuration and abstraction. In her works, Jodi explores the creation of an image where interference from symbolisms and associated meanings are reduced, or even becomes irrelevant. With a hint of familiarity, the artworks are presented to its viewer with a doubt or a choice; what does one choose to see, and how does one read the image?

For more information on Bloom and the artists’ works, please contact us at (65) 6339 0678 or email us at enquiry@ipreciation.com.

When: 18 Oct - 2 Nov 2019,

By: iPRECIATION