PAST EXHIBITIONS

Mountain. City. Spirit

A Solo Exhibition by Nyan Soe

Exhibition Dates: 26 April 2019 – 27 May 2019

The mountain has a special place in Nyan Soe’s heart. In his hands, it becomes a multi-layered motif, symbolising the different facets and challenges of life. The idyll of home, and the consequent homesickness of living abroad, comes through when he references the mountain ranges that frame his hometown of Keng Tong in Myanmar. The city also has its mountains; the soaring skyscrapers, sprawling malls and monumental public institutions dominate the cityscape, and embody the ambition and drive of its denizens.

“Mountain. City. Spirit” traces Nyan Soe’s journey through the different cities he has lived in, while the yearning for home is always tucked at the back of his mind. Singapore is significant as it is here that he honed his craft for the past decade. The works reflect on how he, as a city dweller, negotiate with, and navigate, the concrete mountains of the city and its frenetic pace of life. Human figures, often depicted in improbable spaces carved out of the cityscape or soaring above the man-made mountains, allude to the aspirations of the urban dweller, of the yearning to find oneself and transcending the anonymity of being one amongst the millions in the urban sprawl. True to Nyan Soe’s multidisciplinary approach to art-making, these stories unfold across a series of two- and three-dimensional works, ranging from drawings to sculptures and installations. “Mountain. City. Spirit” charts the mountain in everybody’s heart, of that unique journey we all undertake in finding ourselves and meaning in life.