Slabs, Sheets, Shards: A ceramics exhibition with Ben Loong, Nick Ng, Shane Ng and Yamaguchi Saya

In this eclectic showcase of local ceramics practice, four clay artists—Ben Loong, Nick Ng, Saya Yamaguchi and Shane Ng—will present their creative work on slab forms.

Often a neglected genre by potters and sculptors, the non-functional tile renews itself as an object of natural curiosity, where minute creases and crevices get accentuated for the acute senses.

About the artists

Ben Loong explores themes of utility within traditional craftsmanship by working at the intersection of painting and sculpture. By manipulating industrial and mass-produced materials and observing textures and patterns in everyday life, his practice attempts to challenge the value systems embedded in material culture.

Ben has exhibited locally and internationally, including exhibitions at Jendela (Visual Arts Space), Mizuma Gallery, AC43 Gallery, and Pearl Lam Galleries. Ben was part of the NTU CCA Singapore Residencies Programme in 2023, and holds a Diploma in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts and a BFA from University of the Arts London.

Nick Ng is the founder of Turen Ceramics. A theatre director and drama educator who returned to working with clay in 2020, Nick is drawn to the medium's grounded, meditative nature after years in theatre performance. His ceramic practice spans functional ware to expressive clay reliefs, guided by a Taoist belief in “perfect imperfection.”

Embracing flaws, textures and rawness, Nick allows the clay to lead, to breathe—never forcing, always listening. Rooted in earthiness and simplicity, his works are humble yet evocative, inviting moments of reflection, stillness and tactile connection in a fast-paced world. Nick graduated with an MA in Arts Pedagogy and Practice from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2019.

Shane Ng is an artist and educator who primarily works in ceramics. He earned an MA Fine Arts with Distinction from LASALLE College of the Arts, awarded by Goldsmiths, University of London (2019), BA (Hons) Fine Art from Norwich University of the Arts (2015), and a Diploma in Fine Art from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (2011). He is a winner of the Bishop’s Art Prize (Norwich, 2015) and recipient of the Winston Oh Postgraduate Study Grant (2018).

Shane has been teaching at LASALLE since 2019 and has been actively participating in multiple exhibitions in Singapore and the UK since 2014.

Yamaguchi Saya graduated with a MA Fine Arts in ceramics at Kyoto Seika University, Japan in 2003. Over the past 25 years, she has exhibited in many parts of the world including 25 solo exhibitions in Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka, Kanagawa, Gifu and Singapore.

Yamaguchi's ceramic works have been most sought after in Singapore and Japan, and her works are in public and private collections internationally. Her ceramic practice involves working on nature-themed pieces that utilise the texture of clay. Currently living in Singapore, Saya teaches ceramics at Studio Miu Art.