First Light is the first solo exhibition in Singapore by Filipino-Chinese artist Maria Tan. Inspired by the atmosphere of awakening into the day’s earliest light, First Light explores the fleeting moment when darkness gradually yields to color and the world begins to emerge into perception. Rather than depicting specific places, Tan creates atmospheric environments that evoke memory, sensation, and the quiet wonder of seeing.
Central to Tan’s practice is an experimental approach to mark-making. Alongside traditional brushes, she employs forks and everyday domestic objects, embedding traces of daily life within the painting process. Through repetition, layering, and varied gestures, the works accumulate like memories—simultaneously spontaneous and carefully sustained.
Working across varied scales, Tan transforms the painted surface into an immersive environment that surrounds and envelops the viewer. Forms appear and dissolve, inviting contemplation rather than immediate recognition. Throughout the exhibition, serenity is never static but charged with subtle energy and continuous becoming.
With First Light, Maria Tan invites us to slow down and inhabit the delicate threshold between dream and waking, where light, color, and perception reveal themselves with renewed clarity.
Venue: The Columns Gallery, 22 Lock Road #01-35 Gillman Barracks Singapore 108939
Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday 11AM – 7PM
Sunday 12PM – 6PM
Closed on Monday & public holidays
When: 1 Jul - 8 Aug 2026,
