Praxis: MA Fine Arts Postgraduate Symposium 2023

This year’s MA Fine Arts Postgraduate Symposium foregrounds the process of making, as embodied by the word ‘praxis’. As an annual platform which facilitates dialogues about research practice, the event features a keynote address by alumnus and artist Hilmi Johandi followed by  presentations of 11 MA Fine Arts candidates articulating the centrality of making, experimenting and reflexivity in their journey as artists.

Download symposium schedule.

Keynote: False walls: the familiar and the unknown

‘False Walls’ focuses on the process of image-making in Hilmi Johandi’s artistic practice, expanding on the painted works Landscapes and Paradise, which correlate with the ongoing production of his installations Stagecraft. The lecture will trace the development of his practice through the correspondence of form and content, relating the significance of collage as fragmentation and superimposition which is integral to the development of his work in various media, as well as the pursuit of nostalgic narratives of leisure and desire serving as archival materials from the past, waiting to be recontextualised.

About the keynote speaker:

Primarily working with painting, Hilmi Johandi explores various interventions to expand his image-making process. His practice has seen a constant inquiry into his intuitive response with each medium. Hilmi makes paintings, installations, works on paper and films depicting familiar environments, often revealing the constructedness of representation. Images from archival footage as well as  images, old films and photographs produced for mass consumption are reconstructed into a fragmented montage that encourages the viewer to reflect on existing historical narratives within the context of Singapore. In 2018, Hilmi was a recipient of the Young Artist Award presented by the National Arts Council, Singapore. His recent solo exhibitions include Landscapes and Paradise: Poolscapes, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan (2021) and Painting Archives, Rumah Lukis, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2019). 

_{Image courtesy of Hilmi Johandi, Landscapes & Paradise #18: Sea View (Landscaped Grounds), 2022.}