{"id":10138,"date":"2022-01-01T18:24:55","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T10:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/?p=10138"},"modified":"2025-08-29T18:31:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T10:31:23","slug":"thriving-in-the-unknown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2022\/01\/01\/thriving-in-the-unknown\/","title":{"rendered":"Thriving in the Unknown"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Nestled within the lush Yale-NUS College campus are two art studios, one of which is named after the eminent painter Georgette Chen. Here, students of the liberal arts college learn the secrets of the trade from Dr Yanyun Chen. It is a class that many students look forward to, since they will be learning from the best in the business: Currently the Arts Practice Coordinator for the college\u2019s Division of Humanities, Dr Chen, 35, is a recipient of the National Arts Council Young Artist Award, Singapore\u2019s highest accolade for young arts practitioners.\u00a0<\/p>

But it is not just her artistic prowess that draws these students to her class \u2014 she is also a favourite because of her approach to issues that students care about. \u201cStudying in a liberal arts environment, these students care deeply and are vocal about a lot of issues,\u201d Dr Chen observes. \u201cI am very impressed by their concern for the community, as well as their sense of social awareness and social justice. So with my class assignments, I keep the themes open and let them work on issues that matter to them.\u201d Her hope is to guide the students through artistic concepts and techniques so that they can express themselves better.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Wife - Stories of a Woman and Her Dowry; lantern, teak chairs, red ribbons, 2019.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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For some students, not having a framework stokes fears and insecurities. These, Dr Chen says, are part of the learning process. \u201cAt first, they may feel scared and lost because of all the freedom,\u201d she shares. \u201cBut with time, they get more comfortable and eventually thrive in these environments. Seeing that transformation is very enriching.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Variations and Variables I, charcoal print on cotton Panama fabric, 2019. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0<\/h4>

QUALITY QUESTIONS<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>

Her aversion to overly-prescriptive education extends to her own art as well. \u201cI would like the audiences to come to their own understanding of the works and I prefer not to take away from that experience by telling them what they are about or being prescriptive,\u201d she explains. That, to her, is the crux of an art education: \u201cHelping students ask questions that will lead them to better appreciate art.\u201d

For example, stepping into a gallery, one can ask whose works are not being seen? Up until a few years ago, a common answer would be \u201cwomen artists and artists who have taken time away to start families\u201d, explains Dr Chen. \u201cWhile we see less of such discrimination in Singapore, the issue is more pronounced in the international art scene. We do have a large number of women artists and artists with families practicing in Singapore.\u201d

\u201cThere has been progress,\u201d Dr Chen elaborates. \u201cFor example, Ms Shubigi Rao will be the first female artist representing Singapore with a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale.\u201d At the same time, Dr Chen is not taking anything for granted, and advocates greater support for women artists and those with young families. After all, just a century ago, female artists were turned away from Europe\u2019s finest art schools, simply due to their gender.\u00a0<\/p>

Even among women, there are those who have privileges that afford them greater opportunities. Does she fit into this category? After some thought, Dr Chen says that she does. She acknowledges that she was able to throw herself into the arts after graduating, because nobody was dependent on her for a living. \u201cI also benefitted from scholarships, so loans and student debt didn\u2019t keep me up at night,\u201d she explains matter-of-factly. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful for those factors.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Being in a liberal arts background, these [Yale-NUS College] students care deeply about a lot of issues. I\u2019m very impressed by their concern for the community, as well as their sense of social awareness and social justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Left to right: Flowers VII, Nitram Charcoal on Fabriano Roma paper, 2015; Untitled, pencil on Canson paper, 2013.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0<\/h4>

THE ACCIDENTAL ARTIST<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>

Her decision to go into the arts came from the peace she found in it as an adolescent. \u201cWhen I was doing art projects in secondary school and junior college, I would be left quite alone. There weren\u2019t many expectations placed on art as a subject at the time and I found that very liberating.\u201d When the time came to decide on a subject to read at university, she was torn between mathematics and the arts. In the end, she pursued the latter, because of what she describes as \u201ca personal gamble to see if I could carve a space for myself.\u201d<\/p>

Given her early connection to the arts, it is no surprise that Dr Chen decided to plunge into this arena further after graduation, even though it was not the easiest time to do so. \u201cMy batch entered the workforce amid a recession, so it wasn\u2019t all rosy. But social media was not as pervasive, so we didn\u2019t feel like we were competing with our peers every second of the day. There was a sense that we would figure it out along the way. And we did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

For Dr Chen, \u201cfiguring it out\u201d first meant starting an animation business, where she helped brands and companies tell stories through her signature brand of quirky and colourful drawings. She then embarked on a postgraduate trek through schools in Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic and Switzerland, where she expanded her knowledge of the arts to include classical forms. The influence of these years is apparent in her recent collection of charcoal still life. Following her return to Singapore, she joined the University as an adjunct lecturer in 2015 and started teaching full-time three years later. \u201cInitially, my family and loved ones were very confused by my choices with the animation studio and postgraduate studies. But joining the University made things a lot clearer for them, because they saw the impact I was making with students.\u201d It\u2019s an impact that she hopes to continue making for the final batch at Yale-NUS, which enrolled in the University in 2021. Beyond enriching their lives, Dr Chen also remains committed to furthering her art through a series of residencies, both local and overseas.<\/p>

The first, which started in December 2021, took her to the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), a creative workshop and contemporary art gallery based in Singapore that specialises in artistic experimentation in the medium of print and paper. At the time of this interview, Dr Chen was unsure about just what she would achieve there \u2014 or in her planned 2022 residencies in Portugal and Ireland. But staying true to herself, she says, \u201cThat\u2019s the fun, isn\u2019t it? Starting a journey without knowing the end.\u201d We couldn\u2019t agree more.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A GLOBAL FOOTPRINT<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>
\"spotlight-0\"Dr Chen\u2019s works have been exhibited in Argentina, South Korea, Canada, United States, Belarus, The Netherlands and Czech Republic.<\/strong>
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See Dr Chen\u2019s works at\u00a0yanyunchendrawings.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Main photo: Zachary Tang, Rice Media<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National Arts Council Young Artist Award recipient Dr Yanyun Chen on finding her voice as a visual artist and helping her students find theirs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":10139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10138"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10178,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10138\/revisions\/10178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}