17.10.26

A Tale of Two Cities, Two Exhibitions..

I had thought this would be a quiet year. Instead its become a hectic final leg with 2 neck-to-neck exhibitions in November in 2 cities, Taipei and Singapore.

Be shuttling for my first overseas stint at Art Revolution Taipei (A.R.T.) 19~22 November 2026 "ART into the life" 《居然• 藝境》show (Warehouse 3), where 2 works from my Singapore Shophouses series, "Spottiswoode Park Shophouses" & "Blair Road Corner" are selected for participation. Even after couriering the paintings over, it feels unreal until now I see one of them appearing on a wall in a private preview event social media post ;p Nice too to see a chinese article covering the event that includes the other work :) 

   


From Taipei, I will be flying home straight for the 26~29 November "Affordable Art Fair" Singapore (AAF) at F1 Pit ( Studio Fine Art Gallery, Booth 2A-21) where my latest shophouse works will be available - "Everton Road Shophouses" and a mini-series of "Blair Road Shophouses" ( I am still 'furiously' painting away hoping to complete 6 out of 8 for AAF ;p ) 

All are welcome to the art fair and do contact me for complimentary AAF tickets.  

 
 
Everton Road Shophouses (30"x24" oil on canvas) is an impressionist painting of Everton Road in Tanjong Pagar, with its undulating pastel hue Peranakan shophouses and beautifully preserved pre-war buildings oft with inscribed Chinese words, adding warm nostalgia to the tranquil garden vibes of the residential heritage street. The organic artwork with its curving perspectives vividly details the rich architectural quirks of every single shophouse on both sides of the street however slim the representation, as well as a peak of Spottiswoode Park intersection and Blair Road shophouses in the distance. 2026.

Blair Road Shophouses (each 14"x10" oil on canvas) is a mini-series of whimsical impressionist paintings, featuring lovely individual Peranakan shophouses with beautifully preserved ornate features and architectural style at Blair Plain Conservation Area in Singapore. 2026.

About the Singapore Shophouses Series:

Each oil work emanates from a local scene that spoke to the artist. Attention to architectural details and local colour become significant as it is the viewer recognition of the place and its beauty that is the fundamental intent of the work to resonate with Singaporeans and people who have lived here, that this is our vibrant legacy. But they are not observist replicas. With her freewheeling bending of perspectives, Yen meticulously captures the various ornamental features that are special to her with her intricate sculptural textures often using toothpick work, interspersed with modern whimsical quirks of people and animals that allude to the current atmosphere of the place, to complete her unique interpretation of the Peranakan legacy over time up to the present. Like the buildings, her work is a capture of the sense of the place past and up to the date of the work. And the architecture lives on after.

Life is short and Yen intends to continue with this series for as long as she can, to eventually map out her Peranakan footprint in Singapore, as this is her legacy to her homeland. These shophouse paintings have found homes in private collections worldwide, including the United States, Europe, Australia and Singapore.

Explore the evolving interactive virtual exhibit of the series or check out this 1-minute video to experience the charm of historic shophouse streetscapes captured in post-impressionist modernist style.