100 Word Description

The modern day fashion industry uses chemical dyes to make our clothes colourful and patterned. Today, dyes are less harmful but there is no denying that these dyes are chemical-based which is unnatural and harmful to our bodies and natural environment in the long run. My FYP aims to create a sustainable and healthier method of dyeing fabric from Singapore plants. It specifically looks to develop a look book of colours extracted from plants found in Singapore since 1819. The final presentation/exhibition method would be a performative installation. The plan is to create a dress out of fabrics dyed using local plants, which I’ll wear and perform in.

Hello It’s Me

BIOGRAPHY

Teng Yu Qing is currently pursuing her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Interactive Media in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Yu Qing’s works incorporate some use of coding into her installations and films, although Yu Qing is mainly interested in exploring the possibilities of tactile works.

Yu Qing volunteers at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) under an art therapist to facilitate elderly patients to be mobile through fun art making. Yu Qing previously worked with children on the autism spectrum at Grace Orchard School under the tutelage of another art therapist with a partnership with NTFGH. Yu Qing loves engaging others in art making and helping them find joy in creating.

When not busy making art, Yu Qing works as a freelance Chinese Dance performer. Yu Qing has performed several contemporary pieces, such as for artist Galina Mihaleva and Hedren Sum for Talking Cheongsams, which was presented at DigiMuse Presents in National Museum of Singapore in 2019.

 

 

SAMPLE WORK

谁也没有看过水 Who has never seen water before?
当水起波时 When the waves rise,
我心灵无比沉重 My heart has this sinking feeling
把我世界曝黑 and it envelopes my world

谁也没有听过水 Who has never heard water before?
慌忙大气向我扑 It crashes down on me with force and speed
汹涌澎湃 Raging, surging
海浪无声地淹没我 Silently drowning me

谁也没有触觉过水 Who has never felt water before?
凉凉抚摸皮肤 Caressing my skin with its cool touch
狠狠拥抱我 Ruthlessly hugging me
水滑过我手指 无效抵抗 As water flows between my fingers, it’s a futile struggle

与水枉然争斗 I struggle in vain
每一滴泪水 Every tear drop,
融入大海流淌去 Flows into the vast ocean
活活地窒息我 Suffocating me alive.

Explaining elements in the video:

What I’m sewing is a flower: a knotted flower. In the process of sewing, the thread gets tangled. I struggle to pull through to carry on sewing. The flower ends up a mess…but a beautiful mess.

The flower is a chrysanthemum (as seen from its full round plumpness) – positively viewed in the west but considered inauspicious in the east as it is a funeral flower. It can be interpreted as a “dying heart” – one that has been damaged and has lost faith.

I chose to sew at my heart, where one is the most physically vulnerable. The red thread is symbolic of my blood as I pierce myself over and over again.

“Steadfast Swimmer” is inspired by the movie Gattaca. I borrowed the concept whereby one undertakes this task(s) while being battered by the waves. There is little to hold onto if you are swept away, as water just slips through your fingers. But you still put all of your heart into it.

 

 

RESUME

 

INSPIRATIONAL WORK

Image result for missing amanda heng(Image from: https://roots.sg/learn/collections/listing/1025902 )

I feel that Amanda Heng has impacted the way I think and treat my subject matter. One of her works that still resonate and inspire me is Missing (1994). One enters a pitch-dark room. Inside, in one corner there are a number of white paper mache dresses of toddler/baby girls. They are stiff and propped up by fishing lines making it look as if they are being worn by a real child, yet the emptiness within the white dresses confronts the viewer, and in the process, creates an air of eeriness. I still remember the contrast scared me a little inside. Nearby there are lots of long red strings hanging from the ceiling. The viewer is invited to tug on any of them, and a paper attached to it will drop from the ceiling. Inside each slip contains a single story or statistics or thoughts of the artist regarding female infanticide in culture where the male offspring are valued above females. The act of pulling the red string and watching it fall to the ground in front of me felt like a physical metaphor about cutting ties and relationships with someone. The work is a memorial for these “thrown away” girls as well as a platform to examine gender issues within the Asian context.

I remember that it was this particular work that got me interested in Heng and subsequently her other works. There’s this idea of intimacy in relationships between herself and her mother, between one and strangers that is explored, that at a level, feels very raw and hence inviting. It was through this that my works concentrated on my relationship with my sister – the reality, the hoped for and the future.