Synopsis:

Consistent with Yeo Shih Yun's long-standing fascination with spontaneous gestures, random occurrences and use of unconventional tools, the six ink drawings in Chance Encounters《偶然》were created according to a set of rules devised by the artist. With the use of a dice, "answers" were obtained as Yeo responded to music composed and performed by collaborating musician Calista Liaw, determining the process and methodology of mark making. Both Yeo's ink experimentations and Liaw's erhu arrangements drew inspiration from the inventive compositions and unorthodox ideas of chance found in the works of artist and composer John Cage. Referencing Cage's compositional process in Music of Changes (1951), which involved chance operations with the I-Ching, Chance Encounters 《偶然》 similarly embraces the incidental through Yeo's playful and unconventional experimentation with ink.

About the artist
The multi-disciplinary practice of Yeo Shih Yun (b.1976, Singapore) is premised upon her interest in ink, which unfurls through unconstrained experimentation with the medium. She works with an ever-growing array of tools and materials, while employing various methodologies to create spontaneous arrangements that reinterpret the art of ink painting. Yeo has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Singapore and abroad. In 2018, she presented the solo exhibition Diaries, Marking Time and Other Preoccupations at NUS Museum. In 2020, she created a commission for Art Playscape, Keppel Centre for Art Education, National Gallery Singapore. Yeo is also Director of INSTINC, an independent artist-run space in Singapore.