Ho Soon Yeen is a pioneering queer Singaporean artist, now based in Canada[1]. She emerged in the Singapore art scene in 1992 with assemblage, installation and performance art, and a significant series of nude self-portrait gestural ink drawings, which were self-reflective and posed questions to the viewer on the social role of being a womyn. As a result of personal and work commitments, her involvement in the art scene was intermittent. A total hysterectomy made Ho re-assess her life and fall in love with it.
A constant yearning and longing within guided her to return to the mode of expression she was most familiar, namely art. The concept and theme of a subject would usually pique her interest first, and then the medium was chosen according to how best the idea could be expressed given different constraints. Womyn's issues, daily happenings and queries about life and society are still her topics for expression. In the early 2010s, Ho was on the move quite a bit with her MacBook and camera, so photography was the medium chosen to document some landmark facets of her life. Photoshop was used to digitally manipulate the composition, value, colour and texture of the symbolic subject matter to express the layers of realities and complexities of her journey.
Shows[]
We Kissed[]
In 1992, Ho, together with Dominique Hui staged an exhibition entitled, "We Kissed" at The Substation. It was part of the New Criteria 1 series of art exhibitions and ran from the 28 August 1992 to 22 September 1992. One of the paintings on display was, "Monkey + Thinker", a self-portrait[2]. In January 2017, the painting was again showcased to the public at the NUS Museum's Radio Malaya exhibition. Another photograph showed a man, apparently a priest who is wearing an oversized cross as a necklace, meeting teenagers[3].
Others[]
Media Series, a platform for audio and video artworks, Plastique Kinetic Worms (PKW), Singapore, 2002.
Trivial Matters, a multimedia visual art exhibition, The Art Gallery, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) / National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore, 2002.
Exhibition Participant, International Symposium on Public Engaged Art, The Substation, Singapore, 2002.
Blk 124 Kim Tian Place, Nokia Singapore Art 2001, Singapore Art Museum (SAM) and Blk 124 Kim Tian Place, Singapore, 2001.
Ephphatha, BA Yr 4 graduating art exhibition, The Art Gallery, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) / National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore, 2001.
Women Beyond Borders (Singapore), Sculpture Square, Singapore, 2001.
A Retrospect, BA Yr 3 art exhibition, The Red Door Gallery, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) / National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore, 2001.
Publicity Poster and Zocard Designer, The Vaginalogue, a one-woman play organized by DramaBox, The Substation, Singapore, 2000.
HOPE, an affiliate exhibition in Nokia Singapore Art 1999, CHIJMES, Singapore, 2001.
Nokia Singapore Art 1999, Open Section, Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Singapore, 2000.
Curator, M1 Youth Connection: Engaging the World, an art exhibition organized by The Necessary Stage, PARCO Bugis Junction, Singapore, 1998.
1997 International Printmaking Fanfare, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) / National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore, 1997.
Drawing: Propositions and Possibilities, Penrith Regional Gallery and The Lewers Bequest, New South Wales, Australia, 1997.
Artists in Education / Education in Art, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) / National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Singapore, 1996.
Body Fields, a performance at a year-end, 12-hr event at the Fifth Passage Art Gallery, Singapore, 1992.
My Pen is in your hand. Your Pen is in my hand, a solo performance during a performance event at Gallery 21, Singapore, 1992.
The Space, a Singapore Arts Festival Fringe Event organized by The Artist Village, Hong Bee Warehouse, Singapore, 1992.
Her Identity, a group performance at The Space, Singapore Arts Festival Fringe Event, Hong Bee Warehouse, Singapore, 1992.
Women, Space & Objects, a group performance at the National Sculpture Exhibition, The National Museum Gallery, Singapore, 1991.
See also[]
References[]
- Utterly Art's profile [4] and resume[5] of Ho Soon Yeen.
- List of shows by Ho Soon Yeen:[6].
- Ho Soon Yeen's page, The Art Colony:[7].
Acknowledgements[]
This article was written by Roy Tan.