As the fourth edition of S.E.A. Focus, the annual commercial platform dedicated to Southeast Asian contemporary art gets underway in Singapore, I sit down with Audrey Yeo, founder of Yeo Workshop, one of the galleries participating in the art fair, to discuss the region’s contemporary art scene.
Excerpt from the interview:
Which are the most promising artists who have the greatest potential that you are presenting at S.E.A. Focus and what is their subject matter?
The artists Yeo Workshop will present at S.E.A. Focus 2022 are Citra Sasmita, Maryanto and Sarah Choo Jing. Citra Sasmita is a Balinese artist concerned with unraveling the myths and upending normative constructs of gender within Balinese Hinduism scripture. Citra will be showing works done in the traditional Kamasan painting style with a feminist twist. She will be showing at the upcoming Kathmandu Triennale this year. Maryanto is an Indonesian artist who creates evocative paintings and drawings in a romantic, theatrical style that explores landscapes that are changed by technological development, industrialization, pollution of the land and exploitation of its natural resources, but necessary for the sustainability of the economy. For S.E.A. Focus 2022, he tells the story of sand mining in Indonesia. The artist is in several notable collections, including the Kadist Foundation. Sarah Choo Jing is known for her interdisciplinary approach to photography, video and installation. Her work depicts identifiable moments and characters within contemporary urban society, suggesting a plethora of private and often solitary narratives. The artist is concerned with the gaze of the flâneur, voyeurism and the uncanny. Her work for S.E.A. Focus 2022 is on the condition of people within the architecture of hawker centers in Singapore. The artist has won several awards for her video works, including the recent 2021 Lumen Prize for Art and Technology. Her works will be included later in the year in the Cincinnati Museum and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
