With graduation season upon us, a number of students from Singapore’s art institutions are preparing to showcase their final projects and take a leap into the art world. Four projects in particular were chosen to be highlighted among the thousands of students who have worked hard to complete their degrees.
The first project is from an unconventional student — a woman who has designed her own accessories line and run her own business since she was a teenager. Her final project includes a specially designed fashion line that she hopes to implement in her broader company following graduation. She said the line, which features zippers so that the women wearing the clothing can modify how much of their body they wish to show at any given time, was inspired by people’s doubts and wrong perceptions of her. Many have criticized her for being too young, or doubted her abilities to run a business as a woman. She said that she hopes other women will be able to control people’s perceptions about them by wearing her clothing line.
Another fashion project completed by a team of art students includes a fashion line designed specifically for people with disabilities. The students made the clothing fashionable and functional, ensuring that the wearers of their designs will be trendy and classic but comfortable at the same time, particularly when they are seated in wheelchairs. The students chose to use carefully chosen shapes and colors when designing their clothes so as not to distort the proportions of the wearer, especially when viewed in their wheelchairs by another person.
Another student has been working on his final art show for about a year, now, but art has been a part of his life for a lot longer. The student, who has a disorder that disfigures his face, completed a number of large paintings based on traditional depictions of ghosts mixed with his distinctive style. A viewer of his exhibit will immediately recognize the fact that he draws a lot of stylistic inspiration from tattoo artists. The inclusion of densely packed Arabic script of quotes he finds fascinating as the backgrounds of his paintings are an added bonus, as is the fact that his centerpiece is painted on a prayer rug.
The final student’s project is a sculptural and meaningful look at her own journey. She was unfulfilled in a lucrative and stable job, and took a leap of faith to get her degree in art therapy. She felt like her true calling was to help people through art, so she constructed a sculptural tunnel with young adult books as a representation of some of the depressed patients she came across while studying.
It’s never too late to become a student of art. Visit SGArtClass.com to see the wide variety of art classes you can enroll in — from found art to fashion design and everything in between.
To read more about the final projects, including photos of the projects, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/the-heart-in-art.