ARTIST BIO

Alpana Vij is a Singapore based contemporary artist. Her practice employs painting, sculpture, found objects and installation to explore themes of perception and what constitutes ‘objective reality’. She is inspired by the Buddhist concept of śūnyatā or emptiness that focuses on the transitory and ephemeral nature and interconnectedness of all phenomena. She seeks to use her ritualized and meditative art making as a reflexive process to question and understand these teachings and to create immersive experiences that poetically engage the viewer in a dialogue.

Alpana graduated with a BFA from College of Art, New Delhi and received an MAFA from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore.

Alpana has shown her works at several solo and group shows. Her works are in private collections in Singapore, United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and India.

ARTIST STATEMENT

What do I see when I see a fallen leaf?

I see the green…now just a distant memory. I see the tree upon which it lushly grew.
I see the soil that nourished that tree. The clouds…the sunlight…all of nature that came together to birth this now dying leaf. And soon it’ll mingle with the earth again and rise anew. So let me take a moment…to take it in my hands and gently repair the holes and cracks in gold thread…to celebrate the leaf…the sun…the stars…the rain…the earth…our fleeting and interconnected lives.

This ongoing series, titled, 'what do I see when I see a fallen leaf?' references the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi where broken ceramics are repaired with gold lacquer and the fault lines are shown proudly, like a veteran badge. Here I have mended these dried, fallen leaves in vintage 24 karat gold thread to repair and highlight the cracks and holes on the leaves as I believe that they speak of the cycle of life and it is our imperfections that make each one of us unique.
The mended leaves are framed on concrete in reference to the concrete pavements I gather them from.

Singapore