This Particular Place
Post Museum, Harshita Agarwal, Chan Wan Kyn, Leonard Yang, Smiha Kapoor, akai Chew
Group Exhibition
7 - 17 Jun 2024, 11am to 7pm
A year ago a pop-up exhibition in a flea market, Code Switch, brought together a group of artists who were looking at different ways of dwelling and being in a changing city. Three of the artists have since relocated overseas. As displacement becomes an embodied way of being, the artists continue to delve into experiences of spaces as intersection and displacement.
The philosopher Henri Lefebvre highlighted the differences in how physical spaces are thought, experienced, and seen. There exists an intersection between the three respective spaces of feeling, intending, and seeing. The spaces around us shape our behaviour, thus leading us to form perceptions, which, in turn, define our experiences of those spaces. Personal deep dives into our own psyche unearth the stories we tell ourselves about our own dwellings.
Transitions reflect the compressed nature of our contemporary lives, where large distances can be bridged with technology and capital. Creating their practices in their own respective locations, the following artists propose a new way of observing and engaging with the spaces around us. Working with various mediums- from drawing to painting; and from new media installation to performative art, what this exhibition manifests is a multifaceted reading of architectural and urban spaces.
About the Artist(s)
Harshita Agarwal
A visual artist, who explores the ever-changing relationship between humans and their geographical surroundings with a focus on the natural and the artificial. She employs a mixed media approach to investigate human behaviour within a specific space and time, engaging in site explorations that experiment with the materiality of the land. Her artistic practice encompasses mark-making, image-making, mapping and weaving reveals, and it reflects her curiosity about the coexistence of diverse elements. Currently based in Mumbai, Harshita is a graduate of Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore.
Chan Wan Kyn
A Visual Artist and Engineer who draws inspiration from the intangible elements of his surroundings, such as negative space, light, and human connection. Expressing his concepts through a variety of mediums, multidisciplinary practices, and methodologies, his works manifest themselves in myriad ways, from sculptural forms and immersive installations to digitally generated works. He allows his pieces to evolve over time, exploring different methods and processes to propose new paradigms and perspectives that may inspire a greater sensitivity to the literal and figurative surroundings of his audience.
Akai Chew
Chew's background in architecture, urban planning, and architectural heritage informs his contemporary art practice. As an artist, he works primarily with photography and site-specific installations. He observes and investigates contested histories, hidden memories, layered narratives and diverse societies in urban areas through an architectural lens, enriched by his studies in cartography and architecture. Akai studied architecture and built environments at the University of Tasmania in Australia.
Smiha Kapoor
An Indian artist and facilitator with an embodied approach to artmaking. Working across mediums like drawing, installations, image-based media, and live art, she strives to connect with viewers by blending the personal with the performative. Techniques like tracing, layering, mirroring, gathering, and deconstructing form the core of her artistic expression, allowing her to engage in a dialogue with her environment. Through her work, she aims to prompt introspection and foster connections between individuals and their surroundings. She explores personal narratives, everyday experiences, and community involvement, infusing her art with a sense of agency within lived contexts
Leonard Yang
A Singaporean painter. His process is free and spontaneous, using vibrant colours and gestures to bring abstract imagery from his subconscious thoughts and dreams to life. Currently based in the United States, his paintings, filled with humanoid and animalistic forms, take inspiration from his home in Southeast Asia - the myths, cultural icons, landmarks, and landscapes. His use of vibrant colours symbolise a longing for a kinder and more connected world, while revealing an opposing emotions ranging from wonderment and joy to anxiety, fear, horror and despair as he lives with and resists autocracy.