Artist's statement

Although I don’t pursue art academically, I find it to be an extraordinary means to express myself and disentangle the complexities of human life. In my work, I question what it means to be human by synthesising debates and theories about human identity into abstract artworks. I am influenced by philosophy and religion and derive inspiration from Marion Bolognesi, Barenghi, Swoon and Beau Frank – all of whom focus on emotion and the human character. Through the use of composition, colour, shape and symbolism, I delve into human identity.

my work

Materialism

"Materialism" is a diptych which depicts a physicalist's approach to the philosophy of the mind. By melding a human face and brain into the skull, I demonstrate the idea that we are not made up of any metaphysical entities, but made up of solely physical materials such as our skeletal and neurological systems. The black background not only dramatises the piece by adding contrast, but also emphasises the absoluteness of this theory by conveying a sense of seriousness and formality.

Solipsism

"Solipsism" – a large diptych – illustrates two hands reaching for one another in a sea of complex patterns. The patterns are purposely raining down/up onto each hand, applying pressure and moving the hands further away from each other to demonstrate the philosophical idea of solipsism. Solipsism is the idea that the self is the only thing that absolutely exists; by showing that these hands can never reach one another and that the surrounding world is full of complex abstract patterns, I show that we are alone in the convoluted world.

Self

“Self” addresses the nature versus nurture debate and the conflicts I face on a daily basis as a third-culture kid. This piece was largely inspired by Beau Frank whose pieces impose memories and other parts of a person’s identity on the subject’s face. The flags coming out of the subject’s head represent the nurture while the DNA strands represent the nature of the person. To take this debate to the next step and deepen the philosophical implications, blue butterflies were added – blue butterflies are symbolic of change and the soul in Hinduism. Are we made up of our upbringing, our genetics or our soul? Or a mixture of all three? The subject’s inquisitive pose encourages the viewers to question this themselves too.

Philosophy Art Compilation

This is a collection of pieces inspired by philosophical theories and debates which address the meaning of human identity. The Upanishadic Hinduism artworks depict the idea of the ‘enduring self’ by illustrating the karmic cycle and the idea that our ‘self’ (atman) is simply part of the universe (brahman). The bust of Immanuel Kant has been deconstructed to illustrate his theory on the duality of our worlds – Kant proposed that there is a noumenal and phenomenal world wherein the differences were that one world was reality and the other was how we experienced reality (a somewhat metaphysical notion). Kant’s theory on human nature can be reduced to the concept of the ‘struggle between the animal and angel’; to illustrate his theory, I divided a person into two with the left-hand side representing the angel in blue and the right-hand side being the inverse. Lastly, functionalism is the materialist theory that any entity with structures analogous to our brain can have a mind – I illustrated this approach to the conundrum of the mind by drawing software and hardware arising from the subject’s mind (exemplifying the notion that AI supposedly has a mind).

Collage

“Collage” depicts the philosophical theory of logical behaviourism which is the idea that our mental state consists of behavioural dispositions. The subject has a neutral face on which emotions have been overlaid – the eyes and mouth show the progression of someone being shocked (starting from a neutral face). The abstract colouring of the eyes and the faces behind the subject draws the viewer's eyes towards these emotions and behaviour, further discussing the idea that our emotions and behavioural dispositions are the most important thing about our identity.

Consumerism

This piece is a diptych combining two visual studies I carried out in colour pencil – I adapted the pieces to have similar colours in order to provide commentary on the consumerist nature of society. People are often too quick a person (or anything) by its outward appearance and are often preoccupied with the acquisition of consumer of goods; this piece shows someone salivating over the red delicious-looking cupcake to showcase the fact that society more often than not gravitates towards visually-appealing goods/people regardless of the internal qualities it possesses.

Lights

This piece was inspired by Florian Nicolle, Craig Ruddy, Marcello Barenghi and Brandon Woelfel. “Lights” is all about freedom and control – the girl is in control of the light she shines upon herself and this showcases her free will and agency. The colour orange symbolises determination and success while the blue symbolises truth and freedom: the subject is free to control her life in a successful manner and is able to explore the universe (the galaxy-background resembles the universe) without constraints.