Muhammad Rusydan Bin Md Norr, Lone Twin, 2017. 2:03 minutes, high-resolution digital video projection on shower curtain, black and white, silent. Dimensions variable. Image courtesy of Andrea Tan Shi Qi
by Andrea Tan Shi Qi, Diploma in Fine Arts Level 3 (2019)
Actually, painfully beautiful...was an exhibition featuring the works of Level 2 students in the Diploma in Fine Arts programme (currently Level 3) that were produced over the course of their entire second academic year. The students were given four themes, one at the beginning of each term to start off and develop their ideas: Wilderness and Domesticity; Unconscious Spaces; Notions of Flight; and Tangents and Parallels. The works showcased the six specialisms in the programme – drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and graphic novel, and they included as well the students’ explorations, studies as well as their final works. The exhibition also presented works by two Japanese students who had participated in an exchange programme between LASALLE College of the Arts and Kyoto University of Art and Design earlier this year.
Being a part of both this learning process and exhibition, I found it intriguing to observe how we were able to start with the same project themes yet come up with concepts that are vastly different. I believe it is because of this multifaceted response to the themes that we were able to show this diversity of works in varying styles and mediums. From abstract paintings to sculptures to digital projections, each artwork is unique, and in its entirety, the curated exhibition allowed for a coherent flow from one to another without neglecting the viewing experience of the whole gallery.
As the Chinese saying goes, “Three minutes of glory on stage, 10 years of hard work off the stage.” Other than the people we interact with everyday, whatever time and effort we had put into the research, coming up with and rejecting multiple ideas, building on concepts to finally present to people our independent expressions, remains unknown to others. It is a great confidence booster, a matter of great pride for us to receive positive feedback and comments from visitors, as it is our first time to be showcase our works officially and publicly.
Of course, we also have our lecturers to thank, for they have been the ones to guide and advise us throughout the year, without whom we would not have been able to present the works that we did with such success.
