Wyn-Lyn Tan's (b. 1974, Singapore) artistic practice bridges art, science, and technology to explore humanity’s relationship with nature amidst a changing world. Working across painting, installation, video, and new media, her work is driven by a desire to reveal aspects of the natural world that exist at the edges of perception.

Her practice draws from Eastern philosophies, particularly the paradox of qi as a life force that is both everything and nothing. She approaches painting as the art of metamorphosis, often letting chance and time drive the work. She draws from fields such as geology, alchemy, philosophy and ecology, as she reflects on our innate cultural and emotional interconnectedness to the landscape as an invisible hand that shapes us.

Executed with a sensibility that borrows from Chinese ink traditions, her paintings build on the notion of ‘absence as presence.’ Guided by her longstanding preoccupations with notions of space, light and translucency, she works in additive and subtractive layers, where the continuous act of erasure reveals luminous traces and residues. Her curiosity in material energy extends into integrating unconventional media—such as patina, soil, and artificial intelligence—as she challenges the traditional boundaries of painting. She works in an intuitive manner, allowing her to remain open to each material’s nuances, as she leaves room for serendipity to guide her in directions she might not have anticipated. She considers the journey and an immersive experience of place as a medium, and much of her practice has been based on travels to distant landscapes in the Arctic.

Tan received her MFA with Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. She has been awarded the Kunstnerstipend scholarship and Statens utstillingsstipend grant (2017), Norway, as well as artist residencies with Cité Internationale des Arts artist-in-residence, Paris, France (2024), The Arctic Circle Residency (2011), Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, USA (2008) and Fiskars Village, Finland (2007). She has exhibited widely both locally and internationally. Selected solo presentations include at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore (2023), Østfold Kunstsenter, Norway (2018), Art Basel Hong Kong (2017), and Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing (2014). She has been featured in international group exhibitions in New York, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and China. Her works can be found in the permanent collection of the Singapore Art Museum, as well as numerous other public and private collections. Upcoming commissions include a public artwork commissioned by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore, and an experiential new media installation commissioned by the National Gallery Singapore for the Children's Biennale 2025.Tan lives and works in Singapore.

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Photo Credit: Shawn Low