Stroke of Genius—The Best 12 Singapore Artists You Need to Know
I’m proud to say that the Lion City’s art scene is bursting with bold strokes, unique media, and stories that stick with viewers. We have all kinds of seasoned rebels and digital dreamers here who are making waves far beyond our shores!
So if you’re hunting for the next big collector’s gem or just want to sound smart at the Gillman Barracks galleries during art week, consider this your cheat sheet. Here are some Singaporean artists worth knowing, collecting, and talking about.
Amanda Heng
– Media from stpi_gallery
Medium: Interdisciplinary, performance
Notable works: “Let’s Walk” series
The first time I saw Amanda Heng’s “Let’s Walk,” I was struck by how something so quiet could feel so defiant. Watching her stride with a mirror in hand made me rethink how women are expected to move and be seen in public.
She helped build the very ground Singapore’s performance artists stand on today. Through the Artists’ Village and Women in the Arts, she also made space for voices that had long been sidelined.
Pro-tip: If you ever catch a re-enactment of “Let’s Walk,” join in! It’s part performance, part protest, and all reflection.
Ho Tzu Nyen
– Media from art.sg
Medium: Interdisciplinary, performance
Notable works: “The Cloud of Unknowing,” “Utama—Every Name in History is I”
For me, Ho Tzu Nyen’s work doesn’t just tell stories. It dismantles them and rebuilds them into layered, looping realities. As a result, he became Singapore’s representative at the recent Venice Biennale.
“The Cloud of Unknowing” and “Utama—Every Name in History is I” had me reconsider how we mythologise Southeast Asia, and who gets to rewrite its history. His video installations feel like historical fever dreams, rich with symbolism, sound, and philosophical weight.
Pro-tip: Try to watch his films more than once; he hides loops, clues, and layers that only reveal themselves over time.
Dawn Ng
– Media from sullivanstrumpf
Medium: Multidisciplinary, installation
Notable works: “Walter,” “Into Air” series
Dawn Ng has a way of making the invisible, like time and emotion, feel tangible. Her “Walter” series made me stop in my tracks; a giant inflatable rabbit quietly intruding into everyday life was oddly poetic (and eerie).
Then came “Into Air,” where melting pigment blocks became meditations on loss and impermanence. Her work doesn’t shout, but lingers, dissolves, and stays with you long after it’s gone.
Pro-tip: Catch her time-based works live, as what melts, fades, or disappears is part of the message. Visit her website for announcements.
Debbie Ding
– Media from dbbd.sg
Medium: Interdisciplinary technology (VR, holograms, social gameplay)
Notable works: “Soil Works,” “The Library of Pulau Saigon”
Debbie Ding manages to turn forgotten corners of Singapore into sites of curiosity and excavation. Her pieces, like “Soil Works” and “The Library of Pulau Saigon,” feel like archaeological digs, except the ruins are digital, urban, and still alive.
Beyond space, she maps memory, myth, and speculation using tools like 3D printing, game engines, and holograms. Her art makes me question what’s beneath my feet and what stories we’ve paved over.
Pro-tip: Bring your phone and wear comfy shoes because Debbie Ding’s work rewards slow walks through urban nooks and exploring QR-coded digital archives.
PHUNK
– Media from phunk_sg
Medium: Multidisciplinary art and design
Notable works: “Control Chaos,” “Universality”
PHUNK is what happens when graphic design grows up and goes rogue (in the best way). Their “Control Chaos” series felt like stepping into a digital myth full of symbols that pop, clash, and somehow harmonise.
From gallery walls to Nike collabs, they blur the line between street culture and fine art. I find their world-building loud, layered, and unmistakably Singaporean.
Pro-tip: Don’t just look, decode! PHUNK’s work is packed with visual Easter eggs from mythology, manga, and music.
Niceaunties
– Media from niceaunties
Medium: AI, digital media
Notable works: “Into the Auntieverse”
What Niceaunties does is take something deeply familiar to us (Singapore’s auntie culture) and launch it into the surreal. “Into the Auntieverse” made me laugh, cringe, and reflect all at once, like flipping through a cosmic dream with kopi socks and HDB corridors.
Their work is clever, absurd, and strangely tender, using AI to elevate everyday women often overlooked by society. I call it satire with soul, and no one does it quite like this artist.
Pro-tip: Go on and zoom in; Niceaunties’ AI-generated details are where the magic and mischief really live.
Shubigi Rao
– Media from shubigi
Medium: Multidisciplinary, installation
Notable works: “Pulp: A Short Biography of the Banished Book” series
The first time I stepped into Shubigi Rao’s “Pulp” installation, I felt like I wandered into a labyrinth built by a librarian-activist. Every object, down to a torn page or typewritten label, felt like a part of a bigger, urgent truth she was daring us to piece together.
She weaves together writing, visual installations, film, and archival research into her projects. She became Singapore’s representative in the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, which was widely celebrated as one of the best national pavilions of the year.
Pro-tip: Rao’s works reward both viewers and readers, so bring a notebook for your thoughts and inspirations.
Charles Lim Yi Yong
– Media from qagoma
Medium: Photography, video, installation
Notable works: “SEA STATE” series
Charles Lim Yi Yong doesn’t just make art. He charts it, dredges it, and drags it up from the seabed. His “SEA State” series exposed Singapore’s maritime infrastructure like a quiet revelation, layered with research, poetry, and precision.
As a former Olympic sailor, his connection to water is both personal and political. Representing Singapore at the Venice Biennale 2015, he showed me that the sea is a beautiful but contested, constructed space.
Pro-tip: When viewing his work, it’s best to think like a sailor and do so slowly and repeatedly. Charles invites you to observe maritime patterns and land changes over time.
Sarah Choo Jing
– Media from theeight_foundation
Medium: Video installation, photography
Notable works: “The Hidden Dimension,” “Accelerated Intimacy”
Sarah Choo Jing depicts urban life and archives its emotional undercurrents. Her pieces probe voyeurism, solitude, and the unseen stories folded into the city’s existence.
She managed to blur the narrative and the observation using subtle theatrical flair with her “Accelerated Intimacy” work. Her staged photography and multiscreen video installations feel like real-life film stills of isolation and intimacy.
Pro-tip: Take your time with her installation shots, as different angles and shifts reveal a new narrative detail or emotional residue.
Zen Teh
– Media from suekinotsukie
Medium: Interdisciplinary, photography, environmental art, performance
Notable works: “Vestiges of Time,” “Garden State Palimpsest”
The first time I saw Zen Teh’s work, I felt like I was walking through a memory of the earth that it was trying to preserve by itself. “Vestiges of Time” was beautiful and made me think about what we lose when concrete replaces forests.
What I love is how she mixes science with storytelling, using photographs layered on found materials, and maps stitched with grief and growth. Her art doesn’t preach; it quietly shows what’s vanishing while we’re busy looking the other way.
Pro-tip: Zen Teh’s materials often map real landscapes, so follow the lines as if you’re walking through the terrain.
Yanyun Chen
– Media from yanyunchendrawings
Medium: Charcoal, installation, new media
Notable works: “The Scars That Write Us,” “Women in Rage”
In Women in Rage, Yanyun Chen’s stop-motion animation with Sara Chong, fury becomes mythic and human all at once. It’s a short film that made me rethink grief, anger, and embodiment in sharp, unbidden flashes.
Both her charcoal works and animated works trace scars not just of the body, but of heritage and expectation, as well. For me, she’s one of the local artists who has turned grief into a tangible, hauntingly beautiful form.
Pro-tip: Her delicate texts and marks carry as much emotional weight as charcoal and other media she uses, so be sure to read the fine print in her works.
Speak Cryptic
– Media from speakcryptic
Medium: Mixed media, performance, sound art, NFTs
Notable works: “The Tribe” series
My first time encountering a work by Speak Cryptic (Farziwan Fajari) was on a gritty alley wall in Singapore. His black and white figures with twisted limbs felt both rebellious and personal, with lots of punk energy, subcultural iconography, and diasporic narrative.
His “The Tribe” series turned that same imagery into a living event, where 100 collaborators breathed performance, sound, and augmented reality into his sketches. His street is a restless conversation about who we are and where we came from.
Pro-tip: Try to spot his murals in places like Little India and at the Esplanade Concourse for a spark of inspiration and retrospective.