‘21 Years: A Story in Multiple Parts’ at STPI

Celebrating artistic collaboration, and ‘PRINT / PAPER UNLIMITED’
By Ian Tee

Page spread from ‘PAPER / PRINT UNLIMITED’, 2023. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

STPI – Creative Workshop and Gallery celebrates its 21st anniversary with the special exhibition ‘21 Years: A Story in Multiple Parts’. This curated presentation is accompanied by a major publication ‘PRINT / PAPER UNLIMITED’ which similarly documents STPI’s journey from the perspectives of different collaborators and stakeholders. 

Although STPI was established in 2002, its inception began in the late 1990s with the Singapore government’s Renaissance City Plan and the effort of its founding director Dr Liu Thai Ker. Dr Liu successfully lobbied to bring American master printmaker Ken Tyler’s workshop equipment and expertise into Singapore. At the entrance of the exhibition is a wall dedicated to this origin story and Ken Tyler’s legacy, seen through archival photographs of the purpose-built facility and the first workshop team. “This is a celebration of everyone who was, and is a part of the STPI family,” says Executive Director Emi Eu, who joined in 2001. Two decades later, STPI has found its voice in the niche field of paper-making and print, making inroads in the international art community and market. 

‘21 Years: A Story in Multiple Parts’, 2023, exhibition view of works by Pacita Abad and Donald Sultan. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

Pacita Abad painting the Alkaff Bridge, 2003. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

At the core of this venture is the Visiting Artists Programme (VAP). The exhibition features more than 30 artworks produced in collaboration with the workshop team. To start, ‘Five Blue Flowers With Flocked Centers, March 10 2002’ (2002) by Donald Sultan represents the first run of the VAP in 2002. Executed with a combination of print and paper-making techniques, the work showcases the subtle textures of paper. It is hung next to a vibrant print by Pacita Abad, who produced more than 50 works during her residency the following year, in 2003. The prolific artist also made a permanent mark on the Singapore landscape. She painted the 55-metre long Alkaff Bridge with 2,350 multicoloured circles, which remains a landmark at Robertson Quay. 

Haegue Yang, ‘Spice Sheets’, 2013. Installation view at ‘21 Years: A Story in Multiple Parts’. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

STPI Creative Workshop’s “never say no” spirit of experimentation and innovation is fully on view through artworks that pushed the boundaries of print and paper-making techniques. One example is the suite of ‘Spice Sheets’ (2013) by Haegue Yang, inspired by the artist's visit to Tekka Market one day at lunch with the team. This elegant set of works embed different ground spices into the paper pulp and is finished with a silkscreen print of the text found on the spice packets. ‘Spice Moons’ (2013), another set of prints made during the same residency, was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York for its collection.

“We have basically abandoned the mindset that we are printmakers or papermakers. We are now collaborators.”

Speaking to STPI’s rebranding from a print institute to a creative workshop, Creative Workshop Director Oh Thiam Guan (“Guan”) elaborates, “We have basically abandoned the mindset that we are printmakers or papermakers. We are now collaborators.” This directional shift is evident in the wide range of materials and techniques employed, seen in the marriage of sand on cast paper in Charles Lim Yi Yong’s wall reliefs, and the use of lasers to burn Han Sai Por’s vision of burning forests onto paper. Guan sees the workshop team to be problem-solvers, who provide the “how” to the artist’s “what”. 

Do Ho Suh, ‘Small Gate, 260-10 Sungbook-dong,Sungbook-ku, Seoul, Korea’, 2016. Installation view at ‘21 Years: A Story in Multiple Parts’. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

Do Ho Suh, ‘Small Gate, 260-10 Sungbook-dong, Sungbook-ku, Seoul, Korea’ (detail), 2016, gelatine tissue, thread embedded in STPI handmade cotton paper, 384 x 257 x 9.5 cm. © Do Ho Suh / STPI. Image courtesy of the artist and STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

On the topic of “what”, it is worthy of note that the STPI residency programme has opened up new trajectories in the residency artists' practice. This is best exemplified by the intensive collaboration with Do Ho Suh, who completed the five residencies with STPI. ‘Small Gate, 260-10 Sungbook-dong,Sungbook-ku, Seoul, Korea’ is a monumental work which captures the ethereal quality of Suh’s signature fabric installations, but the architectural forms are collapsed onto the paper surface. A handsome volume published by STPI and DelMonico Books catalogue Suh’s extensive output of thread drawings and other works on STPI handmade paper.

STPI at Art Basel Hong Kong, 2023. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

STPI at Art Basel, 2023. Image courtesy of STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore.

Tapping into its position on the global art circuit, STPI has been a champion for the region. This exchange goes two ways: bringing major international artists in for the residency programme, and giving exposure to the works of Southeast Asian artists at high-profile art fairs around the world. Back at home, STPI has also created a platform for Southeast Asia through the annual S.E.A. Focus which runs during Singapore Art Week, and will return for the sixth edition in 2024. The gallery continues to develop long-term relationships with local artists such as Heman Chong and Genevieve Chua, who both first worked with STPI through the BMW Young Artist Series I (2007) and III (2011) respectively. As STPI celebrates this milestone birthday, it looks set to build upon this firm foundation and venture towards new possibilities.

‘21 Years: A Story in Multiple Parts’ on view from 25 September to 15 October 2023 at STPI Gallery, Singapore. The publication ‘PRINT / PAPER UNLIMITED’ is available here.

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