Exhibition
Gentle Daylight
22 August – 13 September 2020
Working with colours in her new sculptures, Ashley Yeo continues to develop the paper cuts in pursuit of elegance through materials and techniques. With subtle colours and new textures, she displays energy latent in structures to create forms without force. Creating new aesthetics encounters through the use of simple materials and craftsmanship, the works are informed by reflections on nature and hedonistic culture.
READ MORE The common understanding of the characteristics of paper as material speaks to a precious fragility identified in smallness and lightness— generating an experience of slowness built up by delicate structures and visual textures. Yeo’s paper sculptures find meaning through transference and allude to the soft and fragile. Appealing through the use of symmetry and patterns, the works are made through rigorous repetition and aim to create monumentality despite their scale. Gentle Daylight aims to offer a distillation of an abstract, generalized vulnerability to the audience, presenting delicate works of deep simplicity in tandem with the kind of space it inhabits, through labour and objects. From the inherent spirituality of simple materials, the paper sculptures settle in silence and space. Ashley Yeo (b. 1990, Singapore) graduated with a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Chelsea College of Arts, University of Arts London, London, UK in 2012 and a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts from the LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore in 2011. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Singapore, Japan, South Korea, UK, and the US. Yeo was the first Singaporean artist to be shortlisted for the LOEWE Craft Prize, London, UK (2018). Revolving around themes of lightness and slowness, Yeo’s practice is built upon reflections on the accumulations of hedonistic culture and alludes to the soft and fragile. Her paper sculptures explore geometry, precision, and the spiritual power of simple materials. She is currently interested in maintaining a relationship with nature. Ashley Yeo lives and works in Singapore.