The Days That We Wander/Wonder is an exhibition of works by seven Singapore-based young artists which deal with the subject of mental health. Organisers Natalie Sim, Tanya Lee and Jenson Gabriel Tan from Ngee Ann Polytechnic worked with the community health assessment team at the Institute of Mental Health Singapore for the show, which aims to promote mental well-being through art.
Where: Jurong Regional Library, 21 Jurong East Central 1 MRT: Jurong East When: Till Wed, 10am - 9pm daily Admission: Free
Nabilah Said
1. SEA SCAPE (2015)
Initially, the Philippine-born artist had composed poems based on her interviews with obsessive-compulsive disorder patients, but chose instead to present images of expanses of water as a metaphor for the human mind and "a manifestation of the great unknown".
2. DISQUIET - THE BEGINNING (2015)
Lines and forms in this work are an abstract representation of the artist's emotional and mental journey. The images seem to reflect calm, but can also cause some uneasiness after a while, showing how one's appearance can hide inner turmoil.
3. 130912RESEARCH (2015)
This ongoing research work is based on the artist's memories of her late husband, who died on Sept 13, 2012 from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The project documents his journey with cancer and her journey with him, with a series of performances that dealt with issues of memory, letting go and preservation.
4. DUAL / DUEL (2015)
The artist uses perspective and reflection to explore the fragmented state of mind of a schizophrenic. The audience can view it from different angles to get different visual perspectives, similar to how someone with schizophrenia might struggle to discern reality from imagination.
5. IN DAY DREAMS THE WOUNDED (2015)
This participatory work invites the audience to create their own message or work through the manipulation of a primary statement, of which the phrase "in day dreams the wounded" forms part of the original sentence. Instead of drawing lines between those who have mental health issues and those who do not, Lim was interested in drawing out the commonalities in people, and how "we are all similar in that we all grapple with reality".
6. EPHEMERALITY (2015)
This series depicts how the multi-disciplinary artist grapples with personal turmoil in a physical way. Covered with fabric, he was free to explore his own mental state and experience a kind of "mental liberation". Though carthatic, he admits that "it begins as soon as it ends".
7. FRAGMENTS OF A MIND (2015)
A departure from the Taiwan-born artist's commercial video and film work, this video replicates what someone with schizophrenia might encounter - an overload of sights and sounds that shut down after a while, leaving the viewer at peace. The work was born from a series of first-hand accounts from patients, caregivers and caseworkers.
