Singaporean sculptor’s second solo exhibition at STPI
By Ian Tee

Han Sai Por, ‘The Forest and Its Soul’, 2022, exhibition view. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

2022 is a busy year for Han Sai Por. In January, the celebrated Singaporean sculptor opened an impressive presentation ‘Microorganisms Landscape’ at Esplanade’s Jendela Visual Art Space. In February, she unveiled ‘Sprouting’ (2022), a large-scale bronze work made in partnership with Yogyakarta Art Lab.

This was also the period of Han’s second residency at STPI, where she spent three weeks working closely with their creative workshop team. The fruits of this collaboration can be seen at the solo exhibition ‘The Forest and Its Soul’. As its title suggests, the show continues Han’s career-long interest in landscapes and the vitality of nature. However, the organic forms in her work do not reproduce nature as it is seen. Rather, they come from an inner forest: Han’s childhood memories of growing up amidst soft hills, flora, and fauna. For the artist, these are experiences firmly imprinted in her mind.

“…the organic forms in her work do not reproduce nature as it is seen. Rather, they come from an inner forest: Han’s childhood memories of growing up amidst soft hills, flora, and fauna. For the artist, these are experiences firmly imprinted in her mind.”

Han Sai Por, ‘Inner Forest through the Artist’s Eyes 1’, 2022, photo intaglio on paper, 59.5 x 75cm. © Han Sai Por/STPI. Photo courtesy of the artist and STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

Han Sai Por, ‘Under the Wind 2’, 2022, photo intaglio on paper, 93 x 116cm. © Han Sai Por/STPI. Photo courtesy of the artist and STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

In her second residency, Han adds three new techniques to her growing artistic toolbox: photo intaglio, laser cut and laser etching. ‘Inner Forest through the Artist’s Eyes’ is a series of prints created using the photo intaglio technique. Han’s original drawing is first reproduced onto a transparent film, and the image is exposed to a light-sensitive plate. An emulsion on the plate hardens where it receives exposure, which resists acid in the etching process. The other areas get “bitten” and become recesses which hold the ink.

Resulting prints capture fine details and the nuances of line quality. When applied to Han’s intimately sized drawings, it emphasises her fluid lines and the way she articulates depth through shading. In the ‘Under the Wind’ series, the artist creates pictorial space in her photo intaglio prints by playing with transparency rather than line. This series recalls the aesthetic of Chinese ink paintings, with compositions featuring black shrub-like masses and bold swaths of negative space. The black forms are derived from torn pieces of translucent rice paper with its fibres teased out, which Han layers to produce different tones of black. Here, she cleverly incorporated paper into the printing process and gave it an unfamiliar form.

Han Sai Por, ‘Day 2’ (detail), 2022, laser cut STPI handmade paper mounted on paper, 10.5 x 17.5 x 1.6cm. © Han Sai Por/STPI. Photo courtesy of the artist and STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

Han Sai Por, ‘The Forest and Its Soul’, 2022, exhibition view of ‘Burning Forest’ series. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

Han Sai Por, ‘Burning Forest 3’ (detail), 2022, laser etching and acrylic paint on STPI handmade paper, 22 x31 cm. © Han Sai Por/STPI. Photo courtesy of the artist and STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

Another foray by the artist is in the use of STPI’s laser-cut machine to produce highly intricate cut-outs and etchings on paper. Han taps into the naturally occurring burnt edges produced by the laser in two bodies of work that evoke the imagery of burning forests. The first set of works are made by stacking cut-outs of trees into a panoramic format. Their silhouettes are based on Han’s line drawings. Void of leaves, they have a haunting presence, like a ghost forest.

During the exhibition preview tour, Han spoke of her turn towards adding texture as a means of breaking from the limitations of a flat surface. This is most evident in her ‘Burning Forest’ series that play up the laser burns to great effect as the image is literally seared into paper. At a quick glance, the picture even seems to be vibrating due to the wispy surface texture. For audiences familiar with Han’s work, the scorched earth iconography gestures to ‘Black Forest’ (2016), a pivotal installation made of wood and charcoal presented at Singapore Biennale 2016.

Notably, ‘Burning Forest’ is based on the same drawings used in ‘Inner Forest through the Artist’s Eyes’. By re-interpreting the same images with different techniques, vastly different outcomes are produced. While the photo intaglio prints highlight the artist’s touch through line quality, laser etching harnesses the textural richness of fine cuts that can only be produced by a machine. Produced in “variations” rather than editions, each piece in the ‘Burning Forest’ series would show slight tonal differences due to the unpredictable nature of laser burns. This adds another layer of complexity to the work.

“By re-interpreting the same images with different techniques, vastly different outcomes are produced. While the photo intaglio prints highlight the artist’s touch through line quality, laser etching harnesses the textural richness of fine cuts that can only be produced by a machine.”

In addition to the 35 new works produced in collaboration with STPI, ‘The Forest and Its Soul’ also features recent works from Han’s studio. This gathering of her domestic-sized stone works and these recent explorations in paper and print allows for an interesting experience of time. The immediacy of print is juxtaposed with the slowness of carving and polishing stone. They are connected by the artist’s sensibility to material and surfaces, whether it is the tactility of paper pulp or the cool smoothness of marble.

Returning to the exhibition title, Han taps into the soul of things. There is a latent energy in the form of her works. It is a characteristic that also reflects Han’s demeanour, and one that exudes a quiet inner strength.

‘Han Sai Por: The Forest and Its Soul’ is on view at STPI Gallery, from 9 April to 22 May 2022. Click here for more information on their public programmes.

This article is presented in partnership with STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery.