Artist Melissa Tan, 26, first caught the attention of the local art scene in 2012 with a work exhibited at the Singapore Art Museum titled The Secret Lives Of Rocks. Inspired by the transience and beauty of nature, the intricately crafted paper sculptures have become her speciality.
Using incense, paper and paint, her delicately layered geometric surfaces are reminiscent of crystal formations and meteorites. Her process involves repetitively removing and adding shapes to slowly build up the layers – much like the natural processes of the earth.
On her love for materials, she says: “Juxtaposing paper with a seemingly incongruous material like metal, which is hard, cold and reflective, renders the work raw and tense, sensibilities that I enjoy conveying to viewers.” After doing a residency programme at the Dena Foundation Artist Residency Programme in Paris, she held her debut solo exhibition And The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn in 2014 at Richard Koh Fine Art, where she is represented.
Profile Photo Zaphs Zhang Art Direction Leyna Poh
An adapted version first appeared in Female’s January issue, out on newsstands now.
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