A new show at Yeo Workshop, Singapore celebrates the ways various objects relate to one another, creating a series of fluid alliances
Singaporean artist Aki Hassan has always been interested in the idea of interdependence, how things rely on one another and nothing quite stands alone. That is why their sculptures are typically arrangements of thin metal pipes, balanced against a wall or another pipe, and whose lines flow through and around each other. Their first solo exhibition, Entangled Attachments, which features paintings and sculptures, builds on the idea of mutual reliance. The show proposes that the skilful arrangement of objects and the balancing of forces can result in beautiful new extensions and solidarities.
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Nonetheless, Aki represents the arrival of an important new voice in the queer art scene in Singapore. Their voice is distinct from, say, the coded camp of Khairullah Rahim’s colourful installations that highlight the experiences of communities including drag queens and gay cruisers, as well as the highly personal and confessional performances and paintings of trans artist Marla Bendini. It is a voice that prizes subtlety, nuance and privacy – which also has some continuities with early female contemporary artists such as Kim Lim and Eng Tow, whose nature-inspired abstract work stressed weightlessness, fluidity and flow. Except that for Aki, the nonconforming body remains a persistent, grounding presence behind their elegant abstractions, and their visual style further advocates for the importance of mutual dependency and support – which makes the work relevant beyond the queer community to challenge dominant modes of thinking around the importance of self-reliance and self-help. It stresses a different sort of empowerment that says: you don’t have to do it alone – lean on others and connect in unexpected ways. Beautiful things may result.
