“That which I see or hear, or both, often coalesce into a surreal vision. I unpack its relation to daily life, alter and make sense of it by forging an allegory of my own. In a sense, I am bringing past and present into conversation, into play.”
SHAYNE PHUA (b. 1997, Singapore) uses the medium of clay to narrate stories and turn a critical eye on everyday realities. Her ceramic objects employ history, myth and literature to reflect on the world around her. She graduated with BA(Hons) in Communication Design from The Glasgow School of Art, Singapore.
Phua enjoys observing the forms and functions of utilitarian objects. Her work focuses on these aspects of ceramics as the vehicle for exploring a host of discourses, including oral traditions, folklore, historical anecdote and socio-political ideologies. In a world increasingly flattened out by social media and cultural homogenisation, her practice is premised on a keen interest in the local and often overlooked – a register of things and tales that flicker beneath public attention. As the artist notes, “That which I see or hear, or both, often coalesce into a surreal vision. I unpack its relation to daily life, alter and make sense of it by forging an allegory of my own. In a sense, I am bringing past and present into conversation, into play.”
In 2019, Shayne was an Artist in Residence at Zentrum fur Keramik in Berlin and Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark. In 2020, she had her debut solo, ‘Sehnsucht’ which acknowledges the existence of complex and indefinite emotions and the longing for nostalgia in our current age of rapid change. In 2022, she showed in ‘Blended tongue’ in Paris, featuring works of Singapore and France Artists with botanical installations by This Humid House. Most recently, she exhibited her works in a group show, ‘New Makers’ in Bangkok featuring Thai and Singaporean Artists.