In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Drayson Phua shares that he came to LASALLE to pursue his passion for design after dropping out of a mechanical engineering course. In 2012, he started his own agency, and in 2016, he was one of the judges of the National Day logo competition. His agency was also responsible for the National Day 2016 branding and design, one of the biggest projects he has taken on to date.

As one of the world’s most prolific and well-travelled industrial designers, the Cairo-born, England-raised, Canada-bred and New York-based Karim Rashid – whose style has been called relentlessly modern – was in Singapore this week to conduct a masterclass at LASALLE on the future of design in the digital age, followed by a talk as part of the College’s Public Lecture Series. 

With over 50 years of experience, tailor Thomas Wong, who heads the menswear specialism at LASALLE College of the Arts, now owns a well-regarded boutique, which will serve as an atelier-cum-workshop to train a new generation of bespoke tailors - most of whom have graduated from his menswear course at LASALLE.

He shared that his current passion is to nurture and mentor the younger generation of tailors, as he believes that "the sun is just rising for them" and sees the importance in providing learning opportunities for them to hone their skills and grow.

It was at the tender age of five that Millicent Wong started her LASALLE education – as a young student of dance at the old LASALLE campus on Goodman Road, where she met the College’s late founder, Brother Joseph McNally.

Millicent graduated today with a Diploma in Performance as the College’s top student and the recipient of its most prestigious honour, the McNally Award for Excellence in the Arts. 

LASALLE diploma graduate Huang Yifan, 22, was commissioned to create a special Olympic-themed sculpture held to celebrate Singapore’s hosting of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. Aptly titled A World United, the winning design captured the unifying spirit of sport. 

“I was inspired by the universality of sport, and how it is able to unite countries and cultures and foster peace. The stylised shapes of the athletes form a ring to symbolise unity and harmony,” said Yifan.

Fine Arts (Diploma) student Muhammad Khairullah bin Rahim, 22, was named the first prize winner of The Singapore Land Authority Art Competition.

Khairullah’s piece entitled, Remember 1849? beat 445 student submissions to take the prize of S$3,000 cash. The theme of the competition was State Properties: Our Heritage, A New Life.

Best known for her conceptually sophisticated and visually striking installations, Suzann Victor is regarded as one of Singapore’s leading contemporary artists. The Singapore-born, Sydney-based artist presented Rainbow Circle 2013, a site and context specific work at the National Museum of Singapore’s rotunda, commissioned for the 2013 Singapore Biennale. 

With extensive public exposure through exhibitions and media publicity, young artists have been increasingly well received among the public and art collectors in recent years. Lianhe Zaobao speaks to this year’s top Fine Arts graduates from LASALLE and NAFA to find out more about their approach to art, how their education has shaped them, and their creative ambitions.

LASALLE alumni received the top honours for their contributions to the Arts in Singapore, at the 2010 Art Awards Presentation Ceremony held on 12 October.

Amanda Heng, who graduated with a diploma in Fine Arts, Printmaking from the class of 1988, was one of the three people who were awarded the prestigious Cultural Medallion. It is the highest national accolade awarded to individuals in recognition of their excellence in the areas of film, literary arts, performing arts and visual arts.

Each year, Singapore’s two art institutions, LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, train a total of more than 200 fresh visual artists. The article features interviews with top Fine Arts graduands from LASALLE and NAFA. Featuring LASALLE graduands Rachel from Diploma and Hyrol from BA(Hons), they talked to the reporter about the concept of their graduating works and how LASALLE has contributed to their thinking and growth as an artist.