Asian Artists to Watch 2026: Shayne Phua | Prestige Online - HongKong
For nearly a decade, Shayne Phua has centred her practice on clay, a material she first encountered as a ceramics major during her fine art diploma. “I was initially drawn to it because I thought that working with a medium that can be made into functional wares would support my survival as an artist,” she says. The reality, she admits, proved otherwise.
Ceramics is costly – kilns, glazes, equipment and studio rent quickly accumulate. Yet she stayed. Clay, for Phua, is endlessly adaptable. Between a vessel, a sculpture, a mural and a wall piece, clay accommodates paint, glaze, relief and texture. Its technical demands – firing temperatures, chemical reactions, structural limits – directly shape the final form. “The more I learn, the more techniques I discover – and they inspire me to create,” she explains. That curiosity has led her to collect vintage moulds, repurposing their relief patterns as handles, lid holders or modular elements that merge into entirely new forms.
Trained in communication design at The Glasgow School of Art, Singapore, Phua approaches ceramics as both object and narrative device, weaving history, myth and literature into works that probe the overlooked details of daily life. Her 2024 solo exhibition at Yeo Workshop marked a turning point. Titled A roast of Asian nine tails topped with broken femur and bile, accompanied by more curious ingredients, it was the first time she developed a body of work entirely from scratch.
Backed by a National Arts Council grant, the show gained the critical momentum needed to fully realise her vision, although here she makes it a point to credit curator Louis Ho and Yeo Workshop director Audrey Yeo for their support. More importantly, the exhibition reshaped her understanding of her practice, giving her the confidence to pursue its varied strands simultaneously rather than compressing them into a single, fixed narrative.
For years, Phua grappled with what she describes as a lack of clear conceptual direction. Then she encountered a line from Walt Whitman that reframed everything: “I am large, I contain multitudes.” The phrase became both anchor and permission, a reminder that contradiction can be generative. Looking ahead, Phua plans to expand further into wall-based works and figurative sculpture, building on directions first explored in her solo exhibition. Conceptually, she’ll continue navigating the same three currents – culture, politics and functionality – allowing them to intersect, collide and coexist.
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
