After graduating last year Tan Yao, has kept himself very busy serving his country. He allows himself some creativity and fits it around whatever free time he can make for himself.

“My work mainly consists of stencil pieces. I started out painting, but I got tired of mixing paint, and I always had a hard time trying to get the right colour combination. So I decided to try my hand at spray paint. During that time I was very much interested in graffiti and stenciling, with Blek le Rat as my main source of inspiration. For my Extended Essay, I decided to explore the topic of graffiti and how it represents the voice of our current generation. During my research, the art of using stencils gradually started to appeal to me, and I decided to incorporate it into my work. For my Final Year project, I had a total of 18 pieces which revolved around the theme of unconventional beauty, along with many other sub themes of female oppression and racial discrimination.”

What’s next for Yoa? “I’ve just been accepted into the Architecture course at NUS. Yay!”

The banner for this month is provided by Peter Ong. Besides the commercial photography, Peter also dabbles in the gifts of Mother Nature as you can see.

Over the past five years, Peter has been preserving nature’s fleeting moments on camera, showcasing the beautiful world in the precious nature reserves of Singapore. “Contrary to popular belief, one need not travel to faraway places in order to capture stunning nature photographs. If one is observant enough, it is possible to capture that once-in-a-lifetime picture at your neighbourhood garden! Having an eye for detail is of utmost importance when it comes to perfecting the art of nature photography, which can be further classified into landscape, avian, macro, flora and fauna.”

For Open Call 2010, The Substation has selected \\: The Singapore River as a Psychogeographical Faultline by Debbie Ding to be presented at The Substation Gallery from 2 to 26 September.

About her art proposal, Debbie Ding explains that she has “always been interested in maps and urban spaces.” “Through this exhibition, I hope to explore the Singapore River as a ‘psychogeographical faultline’ where reality, memories and imagined spaces interact, merge, or drift apart.” Psychogeography is the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.

The exhibition includes a map installation, generated by algorithms, that will help the audience to understand and make sense of the significance of the river, increase awareness of local geography, as well as highlight the importance of maps as a tool for the production of meaning. In addition there will be 20 to 40 small hand drawn maps depicting various people’s perspectives of Singapore.

The audience will also be invited to take part in an interactive exercise during the exhibition, where they can mark a map of the Singapore River with both real and fictional landmarks, stories, and memories, creating, in turn, their own mythology for the river.

After graduating with a B.A (Hons) in English Literature in 2007, Debbie Ding worked as a copywriter and researcher while involving herself with a wide range of artistic projects in the areas of illustration, graphic design and theatre. Her current interests include creative design, writing and the technicalities behind interactive design.

\\: The Singapore River as a Psychogeographical Faultline is Debbie Ding’s first solo exhibition.

Clara Yee is the 642nd dwarf planet found to orbit the sun. She holds a firm belief that the gravitational pull of the moon creates tidal currents in her inkpot. She currently schools in Central Saint Martins and has illustrated for various brands including Johnson & Johnson and Alexandra McQueen.

“I am extremely chuffed to join DesignSingapore as a scholar, and attribute it to years of practice drawing mustaches and unibrow on every character in my textbooks,” she quips.

About the featured works: “Alexander the Great (top) and Well yes, coffee keeps you awake (bottom) are both done in pencils for individual projects, and are unabashedly irrelevant with undertones of humor.”

Joanna Tang has just graduated from LASALLE with a degree in Sculpture.

Inspired by her observations of everyday life and environment, Joanna expands her observations into 3-dimensional forms. Her 3-D works range from all sorts of mediums, from natural to synthetic. “I have an eye for detail,” she explains. “So I  often incorporate intricate details, lining with repetitions and modularities in my forms, making them invoke curiosity and wonder in the viewers.”

Wilmer Pan is a graphic designer by the day, and k.0627 by night. “I do like to keep a low profile, therefore the pen name k.0627, and let my work do the talking,” he adds.

To be released in four chapters with an interval of three to four months, “Cho Pop!” is Wilmer’s attempt to create something different from what’s out there.

Wilmer explains: “I am particularly fascinated by the concept of time, thus the creation of my resident characters, the Darjeekas. “Cho Pop!” is a pseudo-comic featuring the ‘Darjeekas’. The story makes use of QR barcodes as dialogue as I like the idea of the audience interacting with the illustrations. I don’t really fancy the idea of producing works just purely for the audience’s consumption. There should be a two-way process when it comes to art. The storyline of “Cho Pop” is an amalgam of various pop cultures, mainly obscure films and animations, plus some original bits from my life experiences.”

I’ve been consumed with the intricate line drawings of Sunny Lee Siew Loo, a graphic designer/illustrator who graduated from James Watt College in HND Interactive Media Design last year, and is currently pursuing a part-time degree in Mass Communication (Media and Film).

“I started illustrating early 2009 using pen and ink drawing techniques, and decided to publish my work online, as my portfolio and illustrative style continued to evolve,” she adds.

Besides Sun’s winning shoe design for the RYZ footwear contest (April 2010), I also wanted to show you her visually delectable tees. And anyone who wants to gift me one of these will hear absolutely no complaints. At all.

Whether you knew of Sun’s work before or not, now’s your chance to go and explore her portfolio.

While other children sat captivated by storybooks, the ability to draw was Darel Seow‘s passport to adventure. “Since young, I’ve been detailing intricate scenes of battling dinosaurs, adventuring explorers and just about anything which caught my interest,” he adds. “With illustration, my imagination is the only limit and I relish the freedom to draw anytime and anywhere, requiring only pen and paper. Clichéd thus far, but I got a little lost while heading down the road of practicality and only rediscovered my love for illustration recently. Having purchased many tees on Threadless, I wondered why I never bothered to grab a slice of pie and I wanted in. Thus began my stint as a t-shirt designer. However the greatest satisfaction came from seeing my designs given purpose in public and I want to establish a line of my own in future. Unlike the luxury of catwalk-bound articles, for there will always be a demand for the humble t-shirt and it is through this medium I aspire to express my artistic voice.”

Broadly centred on the theme of nature, Darel’s works recurrently feature flora and fauna which, at the basic level, will inspire others to appreciate the wonder and beauty of the natural world. Darel continues: “However, I want to drive the message of the importance of conservation through the use of whim and wit, causing viewers to question our relation to Mother Nature and how we are treating her. I’ll be heading to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design this September and I sure hope this would prime me for a position where I can make that change and speak up, no matter how softly, for the other creatures who share a home with us on this planet.”