PUBLISHED March 9th, 2012 11:40 am | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am
The time of year is coming again for the artists at Wessex Estate to fling open their doors to their work lofts, studios and apartments nestled in this tranquil enclave of black and white colonial buildings and beautiful lush greenery. And how lucky for us that is.
This is in my view, a fantastic opportunity to connect with the 20 participating artists, to view their work, understand more about their practices and about this unique and talented community which should be cherished and supported. It’s also a great and rare opportunity to appreciate a variety of fine art disciplines, expertise, methods, practices and influences championed by artists who herald from all across the globe, in a very special setting of nature.
So what exactly is in store at the 24th and 25th March at ArtWalk? Well that’s just what I wanted to find out and so on one fine day, I trundled off up to Wessex Estate to find out just what seemingly endless creative talent lies within the grounds of the pastoral former British army base.
I was very lucky to have had organised the opportunity to spend time with four artists so we could give you a flavour of what to expect. The first was Joyce Loo, a claywork artist. Loo was unique in the artists I met that day because she not only works, but lives at Wessex Estate. Her home is where she not only creates her work, but stores it and displays it.
Quite amazingly, until four years ago, Joyce used to be a stockbroker, after which what was once a hobby and passion became her raison d’etre. Joyce’s work started out with carvings but gradually she became more inspired by nature which is clear to see from her work’s organic, flowing forms. For example, these beautiful forms are inspired by none other than fungi.
There is something incredibly intimate and warming about seeing her studio where she crafts her pieces complete with firing room housing her kiln plus a variety of glazes she makes herself, not to mention her works themselves sit in her place of residence.
Time to hop over to Dick Lim. Lim is another artist who has broken away from the chains of the everyday grind (advertising in Lim’s case) to follow his true love – art. This is Lim’s studio and gallery for his work, which is predominantly inspired by his own memories and those of old Singapore, unleashed and exaggerated on canvas.
It’s obvious that Lim loves to experiment with very different styles including abstract, impressionist, modernist and so forth, as well as different mediums from oil, to acrylic and then to watercolour. He moves from the rustic to the monochrome with different lights and moods resonating from each piece.
Pootling down the way we visit Marisa Keller’s space. Keller – a master printmaker who has been perfecting her art for no less than 20 year – has been integral in organising this year’s Art Walk and for that we say hats off to her.
Specialising in non-toxic printmaking across techniques such as etching and relief printing (i.e. woodcut), her work explores the natural world, it’s constant state of flux, and how it’s elements come together resulting in beautiful, whimsical pieces.
We were fascinated to learn that her studio is only one of two places where the necessary equipment and know-how to learn and practice such techniques in Singapore is available…a sign of how although Singapore is making progress in terms of nurturing art that there is still much to do on this front.
Written by Ms Demeanour