Visual artist Kray Chen, and independent dancer Yarra Ileto, are two LASALLE alumni who were conferred the Young Artist Award on 24 October 2017. Along with other fellow winners, music conductor Wong Kah Chun, and poet Joshua Ip, the four recipients received their award from President Halimah Yacob in a ceremony at the Istana. Lianhe Zaobao spoke to each of the winners individually to learn more about their practice.
Kray, who graduated with a MA Fine Arts in 2014, shared that all of his work originates from a highly personal space. Employing his own memories and experiences, he then draws parallels to complex subjects like societal norms and politics. He shared that his next project will be a short film that touches upon the subject of weddings.
Yarra, our dance alumna, is currently an independent dancer after having left T.H.E Dance Company as a founding member, and Arts Fission as Senior Artist. She shared that with her teaching and choreographing work at LASALLE, the National University of Singapore, and The City Ballet Academy, her mind and body is kept in a constant state of dance. While this does mean that work-life balance is a challenge, Yarra stated how this is “[her] responsibility to [her] students.”
