Name: Yeow Ju Li
Year: 2016
Thesis Title: Problematising the Malay Artist in Singapore: Impact of
Identity, Socio-Politics and the Art World on Art Making
Thesis Abstract
This thesis seeks to re-examine the contributions of Malays, with particular focus on post-second generation practitioners, to document their practice and methodologies, and the influences behind their work. Through four case studies as well as other examples of the work of post-second generation artists, this research adopts a two-pronged approach to study Malay artists in Singapore. Firstly, it examines the influence of identity and socio-political considerations on the artists’ practice. Secondly, it examines how the artists negotiate and respond to the forces of the art ecosystem in which they operate, not only in terms of art production but also presentation. The research will illustrate how identity as well as socio-politics both play a significant role in the works of Malay artists in Singapore. There is no singular defining characteristic of their art, as they respond to the complexities of their multifaceted identities. Apart from identity and socio-politics, the art world in which Malay artists in Singapore operate has also impacted their work and how their art is distributed.

Name: Cecilia Ong
Year: 2016
Thesis Title: Georgette Chen – Artist, Educator
Thesis Abstract:
The thesis extends the study of Georgette Chen to examine her role as a female artist and educator in Singapore from the 1950s to 80s. The thesis argues that while there was a possible division of art forms produced by both genders and a lower degree of recognition of female artists, studies by Western historians and Chinese art practitioners revealed otherwise. The thesis traces the development of art academies and art societies in the early twentieth century in Malaya by the early Chinese emigres and their roles in establishing artists and recognition of their work. A comparison made between Georgette Chen and Sunyee, the latter was also an experienced artist trained in a number of reputable academies in China, Japan and France, revealed that their affiliations to academies and societies offered them different degree of recognition, acknowledgement and exposure of their artworks. The thesis also studies two possible influences on Chen’s teaching philosophy. The first influence is the cultivation at the heart of education of the Chinese educated and the second being the vision presented by Mr Lim Hak Tai in 1937 when he was the principal of NAFA and the art teaching criteria put forth by Richard Walker when he was appointed an Art Master of the Government English Schools in 1923.

Name: Chin Miao Hsu
Year: 2016
Thesis Title: Contemporary Chinese Ink Artists in Singapore from the
1980s to 2015: Identity, Rejuvenation and the Nanyang Style
Thesis Abstract:
This thesis examines how the contemporary Chinese ink artists in Singapore, through their varying approaches, have rejuvenated Chinese ink painting from the 1980s to 2015. By focusing on the sense of identity, attitudes towards the medium, and consequently the artistic strategies of a number of important artists, the influence of the Nanyang artists on the contemporary ink painters is discussed as a historical reference. Case studies on second-generation Chua Ek Kay (1947–2008) and third-generation Hong Sek Chern (b. 1967) and Tay Bak Chiang (b.1973) reveal varying motivations and strategies employed by these artists. My analysis of artworks highlights significant influence from the Nanyang artists on Chua, whose struggle with issues of identity shaped his approach and strategies to art. However for Hong and Tay, the influence dissipates; they do not have the identity struggle or tension from “choosing sides” and their art practice is also informed by multiple sources of inspiration due to the forces of globalization.

Name: Christiaan Haridas
Year: 2016
Thesis Title: The LASALLE Habitus – Mapping Artistic Dispositions Within A Field of Cultural Production
Thesis Abstract
This study aims to trace the origin of artistic dispositions within the LASALLE social landscape. This is achieved by looking at LASALLE’s development through the lens of a social theory of practice, specifically Bourdieu’s notion of the habitus. The secondary aim of this research is to understand the social phenomenon of artistic legitimacy. This is achieved by adopting the theoretical assumption of the habitus as a system of transposable dispositions that derives its power (social standing) from the amount of cultural capital. Within this framework, the study examines the legitimacy of the student in relation to the extent of his/her unconscious acceptance of the dispositions. The notion of the LASALLE success and its paradigm thus presents itself as an example of how social standing is conferred to students when their practice engage the dispositions. This research primarily adopts a sociological approach to circumvent a stylistic discourse. The research takes a broad view at understanding the student and his/her practice within the grand scheme of the LASALLE School.

Name: Christine Han
Year: 2016
Thesis Title: Singapore Abstract Art and the Experience of Modernity 1950s – 1980s
Thesis Abstract:
This study examines the cultural, historical and intellectual context of Singapore abstract art from the 1950s to the 1980s and to arrive at a deeper level of understanding of the work itself. The study ponders if the work of abstract artists, by its nature of freedom and inventiveness, is but a complex response to the broader experience of modernity. The artists’ work were often perceived as purely formal as they experimented with different styles including Cubism, Expressionism and Abstraction, appearing on the surface as responding only to the physical qualities of art such as colour, line, form, texture and so on. However, the ideas, meaning and content of Singapore’s abstract artists, as shown through their writings and statements, proved that their art and thought were inextricably linked to personal expressions, everyday experience and modern life.

Name: Odile Calla-Simon
Year: 2016
Thesis Title: Contemporary Southeast Asian art exhibitions, narratives of
region-ness /Case study: The Singapore Biennale
Thesis Abstract:
This thesis explores the interfaces between contemporary Southeast Asian art exhibitions and the notion of region-ness in Southeast Asia. It reflects upon the drive by regional contemporary art exhibitions to foster a sense of region-ness in in the region’s contemporary art landscape. To address this question of region-ness, this study first reviews how regional exhibitions have been a major entry point to approach the representation, interpretation and circulation of Southeast Asian contemporary art. Considering the Singapore Biennale as a case study, the thesis then examines and evaluates the opportunities and the challenges the biennale encountered in its drive to foster a sense of region-ness in Southeast Asian contemporary art.

Name: Paramita Leertouwer Gupta
Year: 2016
Thesis Title: I, Witness: Agency of Change And Women Artists In Indonesian Contemporary Art
Thesis Abstract:
This thesis explores the relationship between female artists as agents of change in a patriarchal society and the visual arts in Indonesia. The thesis uses the case study of President Suharto’s New Order regime (1966-1998) to understand the mechanics of the construction of gender ideology, how it became inherent as a social norm in society and the tools used by the New Order to limit resistance and exert to its authority. Given the nature of this oppressive environment, the thesis sets out to explore the artworks of three selected female Indonesian artists; Dolorosa Sinaga, Mella Jaarsma and Octora Chan. Through interview, observations, contextual and visual analysis, the thesis provides a framework to understand how each of the artists have created a form of agency, in an Indonesian context, that exposes women’s conditions under a dominant patriarchal culture. By looking beyond the New Order Regime, the three selected artists have asserted their agency to begin the process of bringing about change in society either by means of inspiration, good cause, creation of new narratives, shifting perceptions and moreover, questioning the unspeakable.