Artist Yang Derong at 60: ‘I want to disrupt gently and speak honestly’

SINGAPORE – The gregarious Yang Derong, who turns 60 on Sept 11, was not always an artist.

In the 1980s, he started out as a model before finding his groove as one of a bright young wave of Singaporean designers.

He left to work with French fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, then spearheaded visual branding at relaxed luxury retailer Esprit International.

But the creativity of the self-described “flaneur” could never be contained, and by the 2010s, Yang was designing theatre costumes for iconic productions such as Beauty World in 2015.

He has more recently made a name for himself pursuing independent projects, notably his viral Face Of The Day series in 2017 and 2018, for which he photographed himself in different get-ups for a year, including as Dracula, Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun and US President Donald Trump.

Yang’s project for Singapore Art Week in 2025 involved a giant digital “loom” weaving ikat “fabric” composed of animated soundwaves drawn from his recorded conversations.

His latest series, The Four Gentlemen In Nanyang, mixes Chinese brushwork with acrylic, batik, charcoal, graffiti, dyes and Shanghai ink in a “rojak” interpretation of the traditional Chinese symbols of plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum.

Can you share more about your childhood photo?

I spent days searching high and low for a baby photo, and even checked with the rest of my family – but no luck. With all the moving around for more than 20 years, some things got lost along the way. This photo, taken in 1971 or 1972, is the only one I managed to fish out from my belongings.

What is your core memory of Singapore?

Having spent over a third of my life abroad, what I cherish most about Singapore is its effortless multiculturalism. Where you can start a sentence in one language and end it in another. Where lunch at a hawker centre might include Malay nasi lemak, Indian teh tarik and a Chinese dessert – all in the same meal.

There is always some festival to celebrate, a new voice in the mix. It is never mono-cultural – it is multifaceted, brilliantly evolving.

What do you consider your biggest contribution to Singapore?

Akan datang (Malay for “coming soon”). Hope the biggest one is yet to come.

For the time being – bringing a uniquely Singaporean point of view – unapologetically local in heart, universal in spirit and spanning fashion, art and public imagination. Importantly, I’m also part of the “Can One Lah” spirit.

I’ve tried to reflect who we are organically, not who we think we should be with loads of artificial fertilisers.

What do you love and hate about the country?

I like our ability to blend cultures seamlessly and turn our red dot into a shining jewel even when the world says: “So small, cannot.”

I dislike how we sometimes forget that creativity grows from chaos, not from control.

What is one thing you miss about the Singapore of your childhood?

The space to be bored. The stillness of long afternoons with no schedules, just imagination and ceiling fans or running around chasing dragonflies.

What is the best and worst thing about being 60?

The best: clarity.

The worst: knowing the body can’t quite keep up with the mind. But you learn to groove differently to your own time, own target.

SG60’s theme is Building Our Singapore Together. What would you like the Singapore of the future to look like?

More curious, more tender. A place where people listen before reacting, and where our diversity isn’t just tolerated but truly embraced and celebrated – in food, language, art and thought, all in an “organic” way.

And what does your next era look like?

It feels like everyone, everything, everywhere – all at once. Daunting, yes. But thrilling.

I hope to find rhythm in the chaos, logic in the madness. To disrupt gently, speak honestly. To create slower, “cheemer” (Singlish for “more complex”) works. To connect. Less noise, more meaning. Fewer fireworks, more fire. I wonder as I wander.

And maybe, finally, learning to rest. Not in peace... yet.