A reflection on time told through the language of colour. This is the extreme synthesis of There is a Window in My Eye if You Look in You will See the Sky by Dawn Ng, a work presented during the latest edition of Light to Night Festival at the National Gallery in Singapore. Composed mostly of steel, plywood and sheet vinyl, Dawn Ng’s aerial sculpture was arranged in the central atrium of the Padang Supreme Court Wing, evoking in the viewer’s eyes a tribute to the metaphysical art movement. Dawn Ng connects the work and the visitor through the use of nuance, which changes according to the position of the latter within the exhibition space. There is a Window in My Eye if You Look in You will See the Sky, is a combination of multiple relationships between human beings, the city and the artwork, from which numerous reflections and questions arise, to which we wanted to give a follow.
When you place your installations in space, do you want to penetrate it, do you try to have a relationship or do you want to create a break with it?
Dawn Ng – It’s a combination of the three. I believe any installation should integrate, interrogate and challenge the space that it is in.
We have seen that you place your works in built, urban spaces. Do you think they would acquire another meaning in natural contexts and, if you’ve already did, what difference have you noticed?
Dawn Ng – Most of my installation works are site specific and respond directly to their spatial context. Singapore is highly urban hence many of the works installed here reflect that environment. Works in nature need a relationship with ephemeral light which I find exciting to work with.
The physicality or mass of a work should be determined by the space in which it inhabits. It’s an extremely delicate balance to create the right tension
Does the choice of materials for your installations have a particular reason?
Dawn Ng – I love working with stone. I often give the example that the most common granite is over 200 million years old. Stone is literally time compressed. It has this gravity and complexity that gives it a weight beyond the physical. I often work with mirrors too because of their inherent capacity to open up space and light. Unlike stone, they are like an anti-material that simply fills themselves with everything around it.
Your works are very large compared to the observer. Have you ever wondered about the problem of proxemics as, for example, the distance between the observer and the installation?
Dawn Ng – I think that the physicality or mass of a work should be determined by the space in which it inhabits. It’s an extremely delicate balance to create the right tension. I spend a lot of time obsessing over and adjusting the size of works.
In your experience, do you think there is a difference between the perception of space in the West and the East? If so, how does it affect the meaning of your works?
Dawn Ng – I find there is a specific geographical expansiveness that is unique to America and a spatial intimacy that stems from the way people live in East Asia. I don’t think that difference has shaped the form or meaning of my works as much as the desire to create something that inhabits a space in a way that moves us.
