White Space: The Living Space

Tung Yue Nang, Free Like a Kite (2012) Giclee Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle paper
28.5 x 39 cm, Gift of the artist, Collection of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, introduces White Space: The Living Space, an evolving platform designed for exchanging ideas and fostering collaborations centred on the interaction between practice, research, and the presentation of diverse artistic processes.

Held from 28 March to 22 April 2025 at The Ngee Ann Kongsi Galleries 1 & 2, the exhibition showcases a curated selection of works from NAFA’s Permanent Collection. The concept of a white space, originates from an educational context where schools designed open time and adaptable spaces to encourage students to explore and engage in learning in a self-directed and creative way. Themed “The Living Space”, this exhibition highlights works of both established and emerging artists, presenting different ways of creating, interpreting and defining spatial experiences across a range of materials and mediums.

Featured works include the "Living Room series" by artist Ho Leng, which spotlights Southeast Asian heritage homes, focusing on the forgotten house that once sheltered five generations of Muar Chinese Hokkien families in Malaysia. Chinese ink painting by Hong Sek Chern, where spaces were created by appropriating images of public buildings found online, as well as drawings by Koh Liang Jiang, whose works reflect the meticulous training of a draughtsman in a tradition of ink drawings, offer sensitive and localised interpretations of urban legends, ancient mythology and modern science fiction.

The NAFA Collection comprises traditional and modern artworks that showcase Southeast Asian art practices by established and upcoming artists.

Featured artworks
The 'Living' Room #03, Forgotten The 'Living' Room #09 , Released Ho Leng The ‘Living’ Room series 2010 Photolithography Print on Latex Paper 79 x 148 cm Gift of the artist Collection of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts	Ho Leng has a keen interest in heritage houses of Southeast Asia. This body of work is a continuation of her investigations on the collective consciousness of the past generation. The ‘Living’ Room series documents the forgotten house home to five generations of Muar Chinese Hokkiens in Malaysia. ‘Living’ Room #03 - Forgotten, depicts its remaining elderly occupants, resolute in preserving the house despite its dilapidated condition. Conversely, ‘Living’ Room #09 - Released offers a tale of loss and displacement, yet renewal and hope awaits. The younger generation leaves the house in ruins with the intention of selling the land, but the land (contract) is waiting potential to be realised; to be released to its new fate by its future owners.
Hong Sek Chern Threshold 2023 Chinese ink and colour on paper 150 x 150 cm Gift of the artist Collection of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts	In Chinese ink painting, the ink stick is made from the soot from burning the tree bark. The solid ink slab is mixed with water to activate the painting process. The spaces depicted in the series of paintings were created by appropriating photographs uploaded on apps such as Google Maps by people who visited public sites such as MRT stations and shopping malls and seemed generically urban. The painted spaces utilise the art of paper mounting to create a doubling of painted layers. A zip of painted coloured spaces suggests an ambivalent gap that can imply either an opening or closing of a stratum of space. These spaces suggest a liminality whose outcome is left ambiguous.
Koh Liang Jiang Dragon 2016 Ink on papyrus 20 x 29cm Collection of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts	Known for his fantastical realistic artworks in ink, Singaporean-born Koh Liang Jiang was trained at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and graduated with a Diploma in Western Painting in 2014. Koh’s body of works reflects the rigorous draughtsman training, executed with a contemporary interpretation of the traditional medium. Influenced by legends, stories from ancient mythology and modern science fiction, Koh’s focus resides in the fantasy realm, albeit with varying connections to real life. His preferred choice of medium is papyrus, which allows him to render intricate and complex ink lines. In this compelling drawing, Koh employs the iconic Dragon Playground, a local and familiar landmark, to portray the relationship between the past and present of Singapore. For Koh, the playground represented his childhood, a gathering site within the public housing estates in the 1980s. Koh finds it apt to include this nostalgic landmark as many early playgrounds have been torn down. The father figure in the drawing brings the child to the ruins of his adolescent shrine, and as he reminisces, the young boy stares in wonder and bewilderment.