Artist Bernice Lau: Craftivist Knick-Knacks Create Installation Sculpture – by Dr. Lycia Trouton
Bernice Lau is part of the new young breed of sculptors – installation artists coming out of contemporary Singapore.
Bernice Lau’s craftivism images an aspect of Singapore – the local food culture – through, her use of a technique of creating miniatures, a skill she learned from her late grandaunt (1923 – June 13, 2006). Lau calls this “making knick knacks”, but I think it is so much more than that Lau puts together fragile small fish bones to make minute bird sculptures! These are then developed into a larger tableau or mise-en-scène installation art. She uses whimsy and aspects of surrealism in her art to create sometimes startling connections and imagery.
Bernice Lau also curates projects such as Manipulations at SG Private Banking Gallery. Bernice Lau was an Artist-in-Residence in 2004 at the Artist-initiated group known as Post Museum P-10. Lau completed the Lasalle Singapore – Australia Royal Melbourne Insitute of Technology (BFA) Bachelor of Fine Arts programme and is now studying under Juneo Lee at NIE to become an art teacher one day. If she wants to become an installation artist, she may go overseas to study further in the future; then she can obtain grants and exhibit far and wide! See: www.post-museum.org and www.p-10.org
This is a Small Bird made from human nail clippings that reminds me of Bernice Lau’s artwork with miniature fish bones.
Above Artist Tim Hawkinson (b. 1960) Bird 1997
Fingernails, superglue 5.1 X 5.7 X 5.1 cm (p.66)
Photo credit: http://topher1.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/hello-world/
Accessed February 5 2010
Acknowledgement:
Thanks to Robyn Barnet, sculptor, who leant me the Tim Hawkinson catalogue: Mapping the Marvellous Museum of Contemporary Art, The MCA, Sydney, 2007. See p. 66
Dr. Lycia Trouton is an arts interviewer for “Contemporary Art Speaking”. She is a conference presenter and emerging TV presenter-interviewer. With a decade-long career history as a public artist, she was often interviewed (in print and on radio and TV) about her large-scale site sculpture. She always enjoyed writing and public speaking: profiling others like herself… so, in 2006, she obtained her doctorate in Art Theory and, in 2008, she was selected to train as a TV presenter-interviewer at the infamous National Academy of Dramatic Arts (N.I.D.A.) in Sydney. Lycia can currently be seen on television in Australia and, sometimes, in Northern Ireland and she is involved with making select documentaries about contemporary artists. She is going on regional radio with an arts program soon (”Kick in the Arts!”) and is well on her way to becoming a ‘Recognisable’!
ENDNOTES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hawkinson
http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?Artist=1
© 2010 ArtConverge (ISSN 1918-9273)
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Tags: bernice lau, Dr. Lycia Trouton