Trevor Yeung
Residency period
3 January – 27 March 2020
About
The practice of Trevor Yeung (b. 1988, China/Hong Kong) consistently excavates the inner logics of closed systems and the way in which such systems contain and create emotional and behavioural conditions. In his mixed-media works, carefully staged objects, animals, and plants function as aesthetic pretexts which delicately and ironically address notions of artificiality and the processes of human relations. His works have been exhibited internationally at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China (2019); Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania (2019); 4th Dhaka Art Summit 2018, Bangladesh (2018); Para Site, Hong Kong (2017), and Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea (2017), among other venues.
Focus
Pursuing his sustained interest in natural bodies and biological mechanisms, Trevor Yeung intends to explore Singapore’s culture and politics of nature preservation and gardening. More specifically, he will investigate the history of Singapore Botanic Gardens, their role as a laboratory for exploiting natural resources, and the effect of the introduction of foreign plants on local ecosystems. Furthermore, having spent some time working in Singapore in 2011, the artist aims to track down and reconnect with his former colleagues and supervisors, whom he has since lost touch with, in order to gather stories of personal growth and professional development and reflect on the fleeting boundaries that define interpersonal relationships. Ultimately, the artist aims to produce a new series of works that muse on his own relationship with people, plants, and society in Singapore.
Public programmes
18 Jan 2020, Sat 02:00 PM - 07:00 PM
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Residencies OPEN offers a rare insight into the artist’s studio. Through discussions, performances, installations, and presentations of works-in-progress, Residencies OPEN showcases the diversity of contemporary art practice from around the globe and the divergent ways artists conceive an artwork with the studio as a constant space for experimentation and research.
Featuring Artists-in-Residence: Rossella Biscotti (Italy/Belgium), Carolina Caycedo (United Kingdom/United States), Fyerool Darma (Singapore), Ho Tzu Nyen (Singapore), Prapat Jiwarangsan (Thailand), Alecia Neo (Singapore), Trevor Yeung (Hong Kong).
Image: Façade of Residencies studios, Block 38 Malan Road, Residencies OPEN x Art After Dark, 20 September 2019, NTU CCA Singapore.
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What can butterfly palms, passion vines, and acanthus plants tell us about human relationships, everyday behaviours, and affective (r)evolutions? How do blooms, creepers, and phytomorphic decorations relate to subjectivities, moods, and processes of cultural signification? An amateur naturalist and a socially fugitive individual, Trevor Yeung has long been obsessed with the structural logic of systems. His practice—ranging from photography and sculpture to the creation of elaborate scenarios—detects and distils patterns of co-dependency, aspirational thrusts, and forms of vulnerability embedded in human and natural ecosystems. In this talk, the artist will reflect upon his long-term engagement with the natural world and his aesthetic strategies aimed at encoding personal experiences and emotional landscapes in plant-based installations.
This talk will take place in the artist’s studio.
BIOGRAPHY
The practice of Trevor Yeung (b. 1988, China/Hong Kong) consistently excavates the inner logics of closed systems and the way in which such systems contain and create emotional and behavioural conditions. In his mixed-media works, carefully staged objects, animals, and plants function as aesthetic pretexts which delicately and ironically address notions of artificiality and the processes of human relations. His works have been exhibited internationally at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China (2019); Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania (2019); 4th Dhaka Art Summit 2018, Bangladesh (2018); Para Site, Hong Kong (2017), and Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea (2017), among other venues.
Image: Trevor Yeung, Maracujá Road, 2014, passion fruit plants, bamboo, neon light, 10th Shanghai Biennale, installation view. Courtesy the artist.