Tan Sock Fong | Aequilibrium II
Blueprint Art Space, Singapore
December 2023
“Every second we are making adjustments to keep in balance, a gracious dance between the visible and invisible.” - Tan Sock Fong, Aequilibrium II, 2023
‘Aequilibrium’ is Latin for a level position, equilibrium, balance. It also suggests equivalence, or reciprocity. Tan Sock Fong’s Aequilibrium II, the current sequel to her 2017 first iteration, is a development of these values, enlarging the schema of how glass and stone can level each other off. In doing so she plays glass against glass, glass against stone, and stone against stone. At every level of play, she suggests that glass equals stone. She creates grainy glass rocks placed against rough-hewn stones, finding the natural balance between these random shapes. In all this, Sock Fong is adamant about play, and every glass piece is worked by warm fusion of many coloured bits and bobs of torched glass into a body of clear cracked glass.
Sock Fong’s methodology has been developed in unorthodox ways, especially when seen against the backdrop of mainstream glass studios with larger set-ups, furnaces and the popularity of blown glass. As a pioneer glass artist in Singapore hers has been a long journey – lobbying for space to build a warm glass kiln to develop and sustain artistic work amidst the growth of the art glass industry, and also training and letting glass facilities to some younger artists.
The exhibition is a first for Blueprint Art Space which aims to encourage enjoyable experiences with art and further artistic dialogues.
Aequilibrium II is the sequel to Aequilibrium, Sock Fong’s 2017 exhibition at the Glocal Connect Village gallery, Temasek Polytechnic. On show are about 20 glass-and-stone works of various sizes available for collection. For information email hello.blueprintart@gmail.com
When
14 – 28 December 2023
Time
Daily: 11 am - 7 pm, except Christmas Eve (11 am – 3 pm) and Christmas Day (closed)
Venue
Blueprint Art Space, 1 Commonwealth Lane, #04-28, Singapore 149544
Programmes (all FREE entry)
Artist tour: Sat 16 December, 11.30 am – 12.15 pm
Artist tour & talk: Sat 16 December & Sat 23 December, 3 pm – 4.30 pm
Artist demonstration: Wed 20 & Thu 21 December, 5 pm – 7 pm. Join the artist at making glass ornaments to bring home.
Presented by
Curated by
Seah Tzi-Yan
Supported by
About the Artist
Glass artist and printmaker Tan Sock Fong (b. 1966) pursued a passion in glass through a National Arts Council overseas study bursary, majoring in glass at University of Wolverhampton, UK, 1995. Sock Fong shares her extensive experience and skills through her art practice and innovative art programmes at her studio at Emily Hill and at many local institutions.
She exhibited at Singapore’s first glass exhibition Glass: Passage of Evaluation, 1993, and was later artist-in-residence at David Ruth Glass Sculpture Studio, Oakland, California, USA, working on cast glass. Sock Fong’s glass works have been exhibited at many venues including the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, UK, 1995; Singapore Art Museum, 1992 and 1999; National Museum Art Gallery, 1988 and 1989; and LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts. Her solo exhibition The Unveiling of the Hidden was at Utterly Art, Singapore in 2005.
Other exhibitions include Florenz at Affordable Art Fair Singapore, 2010; the Sculpture Society (Singapore) annual exhibition at Fort Canning Park and other venues, 2011 - 2023; 3 Stories at White Canvas Gallery (where her work involved glass and wood); a site-specific work at Hub to Hub, working with lighting designers at Waterloo Centre and in 2012, an outdoor sculpture exhibited at Luminance! 2012, Youth Light Festival at *SCAPE on Orchard Road, Singapore. She also participated at the 2019 & 2023 Wood Sculpture Symposium, Sculpture Society (Singapore), Pasir Ris Park.
In 2013, Sock Fong made an invitational solo exhibition at the Hsinchu Glass Museum, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Her 2015 sculpture Kindling Aspiration was commissioned for the Marina Bay promontory Torch Up! opening programme of the 28th Southeast Asian Games, Singapore. Her 2015-16 commissioned work Dancing Hues of Life for Ng Teng Fong General Hospital was launched by the Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong. Sock Fong was lead artist for ‘Celebrating Our Culture of Care’ for 2019 SG Care Bicentennial, a year-long involvement with Very Special Arts.
Aequilibrium, 2017, showed Sock Fong’s works at Glocal Connect Village gallery, Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore. In 2021 she was awarded a National Arts Council SEP grant for Clarity Opacity, a glass and stone project with Valerie Yang, followed by an exhibition of artworks and a talk at 100 Years of Glass, Glasstech Asia, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore in 2022. Aequilibrium II at Blueprint Art Space is her latest solo.