My inspiration comes from personal experiences, from the joy of dance to mundane family life. My art, which started with photography but has diversified to different mediums, endeavors to illicit the audience’s conscious engagement through various means that expound on the themes contained within.Tan Ngiap Heng
Caption
Artist statement
Our identity is the sum total of our experiences.
In my formative years, dance was the single fullest experience, encompassing physicality, musicality and intelligence. It was like no other experience I ever had.
And in my practice as a photographer and inter-disciplinary artist, I continue to embody this intense and immersive experience in all my work.
When I began on my artistic quest, I endeavoured to convey the experience of dance in my photographs.
Over the years, as I took on the role of caregiver to my parents, husband to my wife and father to my children, my art began to explore memory, loss, day to day routine and responsibilities of family life.
From these experiences of the seemingly mundane, I turn to my heroes, such as Richard Serra and James Turell whose visceral yet sublime works, inspire me to create rich and engaging experiential art.
Artist biography
Photographer and inter-disciplinary artist Tan Ngiap Heng entered Singapore’s photography scene in the late 1990s, with a focus on documenting the performing arts, in particular dance. This was a time when Singapore’s arts scene had received much support from various sectors through state initiatives such as the Renaissance City Paper and the building of Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay.
His pioneering work in dance photography through the early to late 2010s has resulted in exhibitions such as Dance Me Through The Dark (2008), Body of Work (2014) and A Slice in Time (2016).
With Stealing Breath, Stopping Time (2014) and Fade…. (2015) Tan moved beyond photography into installation art and video art.
Said curator Chow Chee Yong of , ‘Stealing Breath, Stopping Time’, a video montage projected onto three screens, revealing the different stage of dance moves: “. Presented within a specially constructed blackout space, one would feel being transported right into the same stage as the dancers intertwined with the viewers, swaying gracefully and powerfully in close proximity.”’
Tan’s work on documenting Singapore’s arts scene gained much visibility with Drama Mama, a public portrait gallery of over eighty Singaporean artists that attracted 6,000 viewers daily in at Funan Mall for a month and a half.
For his Master in Fine Arts degree from LASALLE College of the Arts, Tan experimented in creating works that were more tactile and sensory. In Plastic Sea, he created an installation of used plastic bags and in Wind Song, he made a modulating wind from an array of fans, both of which were exhibited in the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Recently, Tan has turned his focus to themes of family, caregiving and heritage, as a result of personal experiences. Working with photography and video art, he created Holding Space, For Lila and Bedtime, being his reflections on experiences of caregiving, marriage and fatherhood.
Drawing upon themes of personal loss, memory and legacy, his exhibition Eat Play Love was held at his family house, attracting much attention for how he transformed personal experience into a universal one.
Future works include a continuing focus on family heritage and also collaborations with other artists to create immersive installations.
Artists whose works have influenced Tan include Anders Peterson, Richard Serra, James Turrell and Marina Abromovic.
Tan has a Bachelor of engineering and holds a Doctorate in mathematical physics from University College London. He trained in dance at the London Contemporary Dance School and has a Masters of Art from LASALLE College of the Arts.
Solo exhibitions
“SNAP! CLICK! OOOOHH! LOOK, OUT SHINING STARS!”
March 2000
DARK LIGHT
24–30 November 2000
STATIC
12 September–16 October 2002
EYES WIDE OPEN
17–30 April 2003
SKIN
25 June–8 July 2004
ROMANCE
1 July 2004–3 January 2005
THE ADVENTURES OF ELLA AND ZUL
11 December 2004–5 January 2005
TÊTE-Â-TÈTE
16 September–7 October 2005
DANCE ME THROUGH THE DARK
13–28 Februay 2008
EUROPEAN SKETCHBOOK
6th–18th May 2008
DANCE STAGES
9 Oct–19 Oct 2008
JOURNEYS
16 Mar–6 April 2013
NIGHT SONGS
20–23 Mar 2013
BODY OF WORK
20 Oct–2 Nov 2014
ANATOMY OF PERFORMANCE
11 Aug–4 Sep 2016
SOIL
6–24 January 2017
Holding Space
20–29 Sep 2019
Drama Mama
9 Mar–7 April 2024
Group exhibitions
DONATION FOUNDATION NSM-VIE & YOUNG SINGAPOREAN PHOTOGRAPHERS
29 May–29 June 2002
MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY 2004 - POPULAR PLEASURES THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY
4–20 June 2004
HYPE SINGAPORE
8 July–3 August 2005
PHOTOGRAPHY EDGE!
30 March–15 April 2007
FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA 2008
September 6–October 26 2008
2008 ARTFUL NUDE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
July 11–August 9 2008
THE RELENTLESS EYE
September 25–November 28 2009
LIT UP 2012
22–29 July 2012
CAMPAIGN CITY: LIFE IN POSTERS
9 January–3 July 2013
GOING WHERE AH?
19 July–30 September 2013
ICON DE MARTELL CORDON BLEU 2013
6–15 September 2013
M1 FRINGE 2015, ART AND LOSS FADE...
14–25 January 2015
A SLICE IN TIME
7–23 October 2016
CLAPTRAP
11–22 December 2017
BIT ROT
20 April–6 May 2018
Tropical Lab12: Sense
3 August–5 September 2018
EAT PLAY LOVE
17–31 January 2024
Publications
The Force of Choice – The Guard’s Silver Jubilee
Published November 2003
ISBN 981-3065-78-8
Special Moments
Published 2006
ISBN 981-05-5395-1
Dance Me Through The Dark
Published 2008
ISBN 978-981-05-9357-5
ARTiculate
Published 2014
ISBN 978-981-09-0749-5
Holding Space
Published 2019
Awards / recognition
Digital Art Against AIDS 2006 by Action for AIDS, Singapore
—Merit Prize, Photography Category
Toscana Photographic Workshop 2007
—Photographer of the Month (July 2007)
International Photography Awards 2007
—3rd Prize for Nudes, Professional Fine Arts Category
Communication Arts Photography Annual 2008
PDN Photography Annual 2008
One Life: International Photography competition 2012
—Early Entry Award Winner
ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu 2013
—Nominee