Elements of Insight: Interpreting Art and Nature at National Gallery Singapore

While we typically focus on art scenes in New York, London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, the exhibition ‘Figuring a Scene’ at the National Gallery Singapore (NGS) offers such a compelling exploration of art and nature that we couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Through six episodes—Shadow, Fruit, Fire, Air, Wax, and City— ‘Figuring a Scene’ investigates how natural elements are represented in art, examining their wider significance in history, society, faith, and identity. ArtRabbit spoke with Dr Patrick Flores, Deputy Director of Curatorial & Research at NGS, to explore the overarching narratives that unify these works.

Held in the gallery’s project space, Dalam Southeast Asia, ‘Figuring a Scene’ features a curated selection of works from Singapore’s national collection. This exhibition is the fourth edition to have been curated within the space, inviting fresh perspectives and new ways of seeing and learning.

Recently, ArtRabbit spoke with Dr Patrick Flores, Deputy Director of Curatorial and Research at the National Gallery Singapore, about his approach, the exhibition highlights, and the overarching narratives that tie the works together. Dr Flores, a noted scholar and curator, also serves as Professor of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines and Director of the Philippine Contemporary Art Network. Previously the Artistic Director of the Singapore Biennale, ‘Figuring a Scene’ marks his first curated show for the gallery since assuming his current role in 2023.

Installation view of Figuring a Scene, Featuring Dr Patrick Flores, at National Gallery Singapore, 2024.

Feeling is Fact: Ways of Seeing, Ways of Learning

“The audience tends to want more information, yet this often leads them to miss out on using their imagination,” says Dr Patrick Flores. This tension between information and imagination is at the heart of ‘Figuring a Scene’. It’s human nature to be curious, but sometimes we crave to know everything. The exhibition draws from historical events, religious narratives, cultural symbols, and fables. Moving away from chronology and thematisation, ‘Figuring a Scene’ employs visual devices and imagery of nature as prompts to tell stories.

How does this affect the way we view art? Although the exhibition incorporates factual, tangible accounts, it also creates space for abstractions. Visitors are encouraged to engage with the works through imagination, subjectivity, and active learning, allowing for richer personal interpretations.

“Feeling is fact,” states Dr Flores, emphasising the importance of the interplay between information and imagination. Through the lens of our shared yet unique experiences, he invites the audience to forge their own relationships and connections with the works.

Installation view, Figuring a Scene, National Gallery Singapore, 2024.

Fruit: Cultural Symbolism and Everyday Life

Episode 2 of the exhibition is what Dr Flores humorously describes as "low-hanging fruit". In Southeast Asia, the durian is a tropical symbol, especially in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. You either love it or hate it—there is no in-between. The thorny King of Fruits is notorious for its repugnant smell, yet it remains dear to many locals.

This episode highlights the various characteristics of the fruit that reflect nuances of the regional culture and way of life. For instance, the activity depicted in Liu Kang’s 'Durian Vendor' captures the bustling energy of street markets, where the fruit undergoes various treatments. Passed from hand to hand, it’s touched and smelled, weighed, cut open, and broken apart before its eventual sale and consumption.

The cycle of creation and recreation is also depicted in ‘Single Object’ by Anusapati. Carved from a fallen durian tree, it alludes to a Javanese musical instrument, the kentongan, infusing new life into the object. The piece transitions between forms—from a tree to a sculpture and then to a hint of sound. It fell, was carved, and transformed into a static form that suggests an instrument, and, thereby, the potential of sound. This enigmatic piece subtly explores the interplay between form and function, and, inadvertently, between silence and sound.

Anusapati, Single Object, Undated. Wood (durian), 48 x 75 x 47 cm. Collection of Singapore Art Museum

Fire: Of Facts, Fables, and Urban Myths

Referencing historical events that took place in Malaysia and Independent Singapore, Episode 3: Fire represents both destruction and renewal. While it doesn’t focus on a single event, this chapter prominently features the most devastating fire: Bukit Ho Swee in 1961. Historically, this fire remains the most infamous in Singapore’s collective memory, as it catalysed the development of public housing. Today, nearly 80% of Singaporeans reside in flats managed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

“In the story of urbanisation, fire becomes a folklore of the city,” muses Dr Flores. Not every work in this episode features fiery flames that consumed the homes of many. Instead, some depict the aftermath of the fire, the subsequent actions, and the anticipation of renewal. ‘After Fire’, a woodblock print by Lim Yew Kuan, captures the aftermath of this ferocious element, showing a figure surrounded by the debris and ruins of what was once their village. Meanwhile, drawings by Tan Choo Kuan, titled ‘Rebuilding Bukit Ho Swee’, illustrate the rapid development and transformation that followed in efforts to rehouse the displaced. While you don’t see the fire, you witness a living memorial. The works related to the Bukit Ho Swee fire reveal how a single event profoundly shaped the infrastructure of a city today, and, consequently, the lived realities of its inhabitants.

Lim Yew Kuan. After Fire. 1966. Woodblock print on paper, 48.4 x 62.5 cm. Collection of National Gallery Singapore

City: Displacement Amidst Development

As Bukit Ho Swee's fire acted as a prelude to public housing and inadvertently to modernisation in Singapore, elements of Episode 6: City respond to this. The episode introduces a tension between the thrill of development and the alienation of communities, aspiring towards the formation of a national culture within a modern city during independent Singapore. Architectural and engineering texts reveal how these transformations were integral to the broader project of nation-building and the socialisation of human settlement.

“I spoke to a scholar who had researched life in the HDB flats, and he had interviewed individuals who moved from the kampung (village) to these flats. They told him that initially, they would frequently get lost trying to find their apartment,” shares Dr Flores.

With the familiar landscape and distinct features that once helped people identify their homes gone, residents often found themselves lost among the high-rise buildings. The dizzying shift from horizontal living in the village to a vertical arrangement in the flats was disorientating. This displacement fostered resistance to integration, manifesting in simple ways such as becoming bad neighbours.

Shui Tit Sing’s teak sculptures, ‘Why’ and ‘Cooperation (Passing Metal Beams)’, capture the complexity of urban development. Amidst the excitement of progress, there are signs of distress and trauma within the impacted communities. While ‘Cooperation (Passing Metal Beams)’ depicts workers uniting in the construction of HDB flats, ‘Why’ portrays the vision of development disrupted, referencing folkloric tales of suicides–residents falling from high-rise buildings.

Installation view of Shui Tit Sing’s ‘ Why’ and ‘Cooperation (Passing Metal Beams)’, Figuring a Scene, National Gallery Singapore, 2024. (30)

Common Ground: Modernity Transcending Borders

While the exhibition features works that highlight and critique aspects of Singaporean and Southeast Asian history and culture, its relevance extends far beyond the regional context. Which is why, venturing beyond our usual scope, we've chosen to spotlight this exhibition for its incisive exploration of modernity and cultural transformation—a theme we believe echoes universally and resonates deeply with our audience.

Exploring how the exhibition facilitates dialogue and interaction among international audiences, Dr Flores eloquently notes that it "addresses the condition of modernity, surpassing nation-state expectations and perhaps even regional frameworks, thus affirming that the concept of the modern is inherently global.

Although the events are localised, the conditions are not unfamiliar. For instance, the ecological crisis referenced in Episode 1: Shadow, where Sharon Chin’s installation, ‘Creatures on the Move (In the Death of Night)’, comments on a local scenario in Port Dickson, Malaysia. An oil refinery is situated a stone’s throw from her garden, frequented by stray animals. Her lino prints of animals contrasted against placards from climate protests in Kuala Lumpur underscore the broader, global conflict between nature and technology, directly addressing the climate crisis.

Dr Flores likens it to acupuncture: “You locate the meridian, and touch the nerve, affecting something that travels throughout the body.” In this context, the meridian represents the local ecological crisis, the symptom is the tension between natural and industrial landscapes, and the diagnosis is the pressing need for global climate justice.

‘Figuring a Scene’ invites the audience to make radial connections, fostering discourse that transcends geographical boundaries. The exhibition is on view at the National Gallery Singapore until 23 March 2025.

Installation view of Sharon Chin’s ‘Creatures on the Move (In the Death of Night)’, Figuring a Scene, National Gallery Singapore, 2024.

→ More exhibitions and events in Singapore, London, Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles

For more art and travel inspiration, reviews or guides browse through our features, download the ArtRabbit App for iPhone or Android, or subscribe to one of our city-specific newsletters. You can also follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest.