APAVM event 30 May 2019
Dinner and Art exhibition at Gajah Gallery
39 Keppel Road #03-04 S089065
Mr Jasdeep Sandhu, owner of Gajah Gallery very kindly hosted 32 members and guests of the Singapore branch to a formal Indian dinner at his gallery to view the crushed glass sculptures of Singapore born and Sydney based artist, Suzann Victor.
In his opening address, Mr Sandhu shared that his venture into art was inspired by his teacher at St Joseph’s Institution, the late artist and La Salle Brother Joseph McNally.
Mr Sandhu proudly represents Ms Suzann Victor who is one of Singapore’s leading figures in contemporary art. The gallery’s curator, Mr James Page described the laborious creation of each piece of Ms Victor’s crushed glass sculptures: each sculpture is cleaned so that it is void of any colour, the colours and different tints of glass are carefully chosen and then the chosen sheets of glass are crushed and sifted. Quick drying adhesive is then applied to a small area of the sculpture which is quickly covered by hand with a small quantity of crushed glass. The tonality of the coloured glass gives each sculpture light and depth.
These sculptures were inspired by Ms Victor’s childhood memories. She recalls being bewildered by the stained glass windows in her church – “a way in which the Divine is channelled as a glow of the coloured light beaming into our hearts and minds”. Such an impression led her to experiment with crushed stained glass, producing a series of Christian religious icons: Mother Mary, Jesus Christ, angels and Archangels Michael and Gabriel, wings –without –angels, and intricate heart sculptures: all of which can be viewed as beautiful ‘prayers of light’.
Ms Victor’s participation in and contribution to visual art in Singapore has always been much valued. She has garnered significant accomplishment for her ability to articulate complex ideas into forms of grandeur, often incorporating kinetic mechanism and technology in her installations.
In 2001, Suzann Victor was selected to participate in the 49th Venice Biennale, becoming the first woman artist to represent Singapore at this event. In 2009, Ms Victor was also awarded the prestigious New York based Civitella Ranieri Foundation fellowship following the completion of her doctorate on an Australian Postgraduate Award at the University of Western Sydney.
APAVM is grateful to Mr Sandhu and Gajah Gallery for the opportunity to visit and view the divinely inspired art of Ms Suzann Victor.
