Singapore’s first competition for turning trash into works of art

Life-in-Death by Cheok Keng Lye won the full-time artist the third prize in the Open Category of the Art of Trash Competition 2023. PHOTO: CHEOK KENG LYE
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SINGAPORE – At first glance, full-time artist Cheok Keng Lye’s creation looks like a piece of driftwood with a dragonfly perched delicately on one of the branches.

But on closer inspection, the “driftwood” turns out to be made of 20-year-old discoloured paper stock, which the artist had salvaged from a warehouse, and the dragonfly is crafted from copper wire with wings fashioned out of a plastic bag.

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