Melissa Tan (b.1989, Singapore) received her BA (Fine Arts) from Lasalle College of The Arts. Her works have been centred on nature themes and the fleeting essence of their beauty. Her recent work integrates her interest in geography, rock textures and formations. She incorporates paper cutting and silk-screening techniques to emphasize her fascination in materiality.

Though trained as a painter, she works in many mediums including video and sound. Her work has been shown in Singapore, Paris and London including the Singapore Art Museum and the Saatchi Gallery. She also participated in the National Arts Council and Dena Foundation Artist Residency Program in Paris, France, 2013. She lives and works in Singapore.

Interview with Melissa Tan

***

Nijvest (N): Why did you choose art as your career?
Melissa (M): Well, to be honest, I couldn’t see myself pursuing a different career other than what I am doing now. I love creating, working with my hands and materials to translate them into something visual.

(Left: Melissa posing with her 3753 Cruithne, 2015 piece at Nijvest, Photo by Nijvest)

N: Tell us about your work at Nijvest. What is that you want people to feel or understand when they look at your work?
M: The piece of work at Nijvest is a visual representation of asteroids, something that I have an interest in. Arc of Uncertainties refer to the lost asteroid’s untraceable predicted orbit, only with careful calculation of the observational arc can one track these asteroids. The path of the asteroid is parallel to our journey in life; inevitably in our lives we experience uncertainty and loss despite measures taken to chart our destination. In addition, objects as large as planets are misplaced and eventually forgotten, then at times a ‘newly discovered’ object could be a rediscovery of a previously lost object. These lost asteroids may be metaphors for lost objects/ places/ people or even unquantifiable things.

I know it is not easy to grasp the idea by just looking at it. Even if the person looking at my work does not know the concept behind it, they are still able to appreciate the materials and the visual aesthetic. I like the whole notion of translating a fragile material into something that appears to be visually opposite. If the viewers were to take away any message at all, perhaps it would be that we are continuously in search for something we may not be certain of, and to persevere and never lose hope.

N: Do you mean you conceptualised your work based on the idea of contrast?
M: Well, I do like the idea of contrast. It actually gives me satisfaction to find a balance between the different materials and to see how they blend in harmony. I began working with metal as some asteroids contain metal; I was trying to translate the composition of the asteroid into a visual piece. This has been an on-going work since my early series “The Secret Lives of Rocks”.

I then began using paint containing iron oxide into the works and finally began using mild steel along with my paper works. I enjoy the malleability of paper and its organic properties. At the same time, juxtaposing paper with a seemingly incongruous material like metal – that is hard, cold and reflective – renders the work raw and tense, sensibilities that I enjoy conveying to viewers.

N: What do you think of being a “Singaporean” artist?
M: I feel that the environment and experiences define us, how we have been brought up sculpts our way of thinking and also affect the way we approach things. For instance, being a geography student made me take interest in the land, the formation of faults etc. However, being a young artist, I am in the midst of exploring my practice and scope in terms of the context of my works in relation to Singapore. Currently, I am fascinated with our concrete jungle and how quickly the landscape changes, how it is cleaned or repaired at such an increasing rate.

N: It is apparent that your works are influenced by the many facets of Singapore. Could you tell us what you are working on right now?
M: I am currently working on a piece for the group show at Chan Hampe Galleries, which is happening in July 2016. The title of the show is “Petrichor”, which is the earthly scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed from Greek, “petra” meaning “stone” and “ichor”, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. My interests have been about the land and its terrain, in recent works I have progressed to rocks in space. I have been working with metal and paper to draw a parallel to the formation of meteorites and asteroids. For this body of work, I will be creating a sculpture after comets.

N: How do you relate arts and the community?
M: I find that institutions play a big part in educating about the arts. Art is not linear, it is not something you just have to follow formulas and you get ‘it’. The idea of art changes and everyone has different aesthetics and views. Because I teach, it was a shock to me how young children can be afraid of creating because they are so afraid of ‘getting it wrong’. There is a necessity to encourage creativity at a young age, to unlearn certain habits like taking away erasers. Mistakes may not be mistakes and to learn to find beauty in chaos.

(Above: Melissa’s studio at the Goodman Arts Centre, Photo by Nijvest)

N: How is the local art scene?
M: I have seen a huge improvement now as compared to 10 years ago. Although we still have room for improvements, I find that there are a lot more awareness and publicity now. In fact, the Economic Development Board (EDB) is doing quite a lot of publicity for the arts sector. News about the arts and its activities are also more publicised in newspapers these days. The government has really been very supportive. For instance, the National Arts Council (NAC) has various grants for the artists, which helps us to push our work further as we are able to take up bigger projects with the funding and dedicated studios. Overall, I find the local art scene is picking up and I am very positive about its future outlook.

N: How do you envision taking “Singaporean” art to the next level?
M: I believe by participating in exhibitions and working with artists from other countries help in pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone. As long as we continuously improve the way we approach things be it perspective, technique and concept, it is important to better ourselves. This in turn affects our practice and taking works to the next level.

N: We are sure that you are an inspiration to the future generations of Singaporean artists.

***

Catch Melissa’s upcoming work in “Petrichor” at the Chan Hampe Galleries this July 2016.