2017 LASALLE College of the Arts’ graduates Angela Chong (MA Fine Arts) and Goh Abigail (BA(Hons) Fine Arts) were announced as the winners of the Chan-Davies Art Prize on 18 May, in conjunction with the opening of The LASALLE Show 2017 Exhibition.
There were 10 applications from the MA Fine Arts graduating class at LASALLE, of which four were shortlisted and interviewed; and 18 applications from the BA(Hons) Fine Arts graduating class, of which five were shortlisted and interviewed.
The two prizes, which are awarded annually, are designed to give substantial financial support to graduating students in the LASALLE BA(Hons) and MA classes in their first year after graduating – with the objective of a solo exhibition at the end of the year.
The judges reflected that this year’s applicants exhibited diverse and challenging approaches to their submissions, including works with sound, light, installation and 2D. They also pointed out that the interviews with applicants, about their future plans, motivations and artistic insight, play a substantial part in the judges’ ultimate selections.
Emphasising this, Angie Chan commented: “Both Angela and Abigail provided considerable insight into their work during the interview process. It was clear that the ultimate prize winners had a well-defined vision of where they had come from and were going to in their artistic practice. The judges considered and supported artists with clear medium-term goals, but not necessarily with the premise that the work would ultimately be commercial.”
Angie Chan added, “VADA and Chan + Hori Contemporary look forward to working with Angela and Abigail over the next year and to exciting showcases.”
Ian Woo, Programme Leader, MA Fine Arts commented: “This is now the third year of the Chan-Davies Art Prize, and we have again had tremendous interest and support from our graduates who are increasingly seeing the achievements and advantages gained by previous prize winners as an opportunity to further develop their artistic voice. We are delighted to continue this partnership with Chan + Hori Contemporary, VADA, and Nick Davies and Angie Chan, who all share LASALLE’s vision of encouraging talented artists, building capability and cultivating and promoting contemporary art in Singapore.”
Each artist will hold a solo exhibition in early 2018. Individual press releases will be submitted in advance of each show.
About the Artists
Goh Abigail (b. 1993, Singapore) works primarily with drawings, objects and sound, and is interested in manifesting the intangible and exploring the “in-betweeness” between spaces and objects. She is looking at how commonplace objects can create interesting sound installations, and how objects will interact and perform with one another in the given space.
Abigail’s object making is informed by her drawings. It is a form of thinking, and it further translates into a way of working with objects and installation. Objects and materials are an extension of her practice in drawing, essentially drawing in space.
Abigail graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2015 with a Diploma in Fine Arts and then in 2017 with a BA(Hons) in Fine Arts. She received The Winston Oh Travel Award (Practice) in 2015.
Angela Chong (b. 1977, Singapore) is an installation artist whose research focuses on the discourse on image representation covered by news media, and an investigation on the hierarchical relationship between word and image.
Angela has been investigating news media coverage on conflicts in Syria, an issue that is affecting the world. In her words: “The stage is set; audience bear witness to elusive realities of the perpetuating conflicts, at the expense of creating ‘peace’. Through staging a ‘spectacle’, the spectator becomes a forced witness to a subject that alienates, while engulfed by theatricality of darkness. By presenting light in a darkened space, doubling darkness through shadow, he/she becomes a player in a dark play, made to confront a subject too heavy to receive.”
Angela graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a BA(Hons) in 2004 and then in 2017 with a MA in Fine Arts. She has participated in Nes Artist Residency in Skagastrond, Iceland and Youkobo Artist Residency in Tokyo, Japan.
About the Chan-Davies Art Prize
The Chan-Davies Art Prize is open to all final-year students of LASALLE’s BA(Hons) Fine Arts programme and the graduating cohort of the MA Fine Arts programme. For each of the two categories, the prize includes a S$15,000 cash prize, a personal contribution by the owners of Chan + Hori Contemporary, Angie Chan and Nick Davies, and a solo exhibition, supported by Chan + Hori Contemporary and VADA, to take place within 12 months of the award.
The annual award is promoted in January each year, with the winner being announced at the opening of the College’s annual graduation showcase, The LASALLE Show, each May. Eligible students are invited to submit up to three original artworks in either 2D or 3D media. Artists are judged based on originality, conceptual rigour, and coherence between the concept, the current work and planned evolution. The judging panel includes Angie Chan, Nick Davies, well-known Curator Khai Hori, and Programme Leaders Hazel Lim (BA(Hons) and Ian Woo (MA Fine Arts).
