In Between Spaces: Part 2

Introduction

In Between Spaces Part 2: A New Home traces the quiet rhythm of life as it unfolds in Bukit Panjang, a heartland neighbourhood in West Singapore. Building upon the meditative themes of Part 1: Two Cities, this chapter turns inward, contemplating the delicate interplay between personal and communal identity within the urban landscape. Through the artist’s lens, the transition into a new home emerges an intensely personal journey, revealing the intricate architecture of community and resilience, woven together with moments of solitude and introspection.

At its essence, A New Home extends the spirit of the exhibition series, offering a meditation on the quiet transformations between movement, settling in, isolation and connection. What does it mean to call a place home within Singapore’s heartlands? How do these spaces shape the rhythms of our lives, and the shapes of our identities? By inviting viewers to dwell in these in-between moments, the series opens a reflective dialogue on identity, routine, and the fragile yet enduring bonds we form with the spaces we inhabit.

150, Bukit Panjang

150, Bukit Panjang captures an intimate, contemplative moment within Singapore’s urban landscape. The photograph centers on Block 150, a HDB building bathed in late afternoon light that gives it a solemn, almost statuesque quality. Surrounded by other structures, it stands proud, framed by the shadows below, as if elevated in a moment of recognition.

In the foreground, shadows obscure a pathway leading out from the artist’s own condo, introducing a layer of exclusivity and social division. This gated, shadowed entrance underscores the silent boundaries often felt in urban spaces, a reflection on class and access. The use of contrast and framing creates a visual dialogue between public identity and private spaces, inviting viewers to reflect on their own transitions and boundaries within the cityscape. As the opening of the second exhibition, this photograph not only celebrates Singapore’s achievements in housing policy but also highlights the often invisible darkness surrounding the affluent, quiet, discreet, and keeping access limited. Through this image, viewers are drawn into the layered nuances of pride, privilege, and introspection within urban life.

The Woman is Crossing the Road

The photograph captures a simple moment at the intersection of Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang, two heartland neighborhoods in Western Singapore. At its center stands a lone woman, her stillness anchoring the photograph amidst the daily flux of heartland life.

Perspective plays a central role here, drawing viewers into a vantage point that feels both intentional and voyeuristic. The framing, bordered by foliage, mimics the act of peering through a veil, heightening the sense of watching from a concealed position. Using a slower shutter speed, the artist introduces motion blur in the passing vehicles, emphasising the fleeting nature of the scene and contrasting it with the woman’s solitary stillness. Shadows dominate the composition, softening environmental details and creating an intricate interplay of light and darkness that invites closer observation.

While the title appears deceptively simple, it carries profound societal undertones. It evokes the detached language of surveillance, rendering the subject not as an individual but as an anonymous figure, emblematic of how women are often relegated to unnoticed, routine roles in public spaces. The title’s clinical phrasing, reminiscent of private investigator case notes, reinforces themes of observation and scrutiny embedded within the piece.

Within the broader framework of this exhibition, the photograph transcends its specific setting to become a metaphor for the negotiations inherent in Singaporean life—caught between motion and restraint, freedom and control. It critiques Singapore’s portrayal of safety for its citizens, exposing the tension between the promise of security and the undignified constraints of observation. By situating autonomy within a web of societal expectations, the work reveals how perceptions of safety are often tethered to surveillance, subtly shaping the boundaries of own lives.

A Ritual of Shoes

Here we see the quiet poetry of a domestic ritual, bathed in the soft, filtered light of an early afternoon. By the balcony window, two pairs of badminton shoes rest, drying after a session of exertion, surrounded by an array of equipment, a rather unremarkable sight. The laundry rack, framing the scene within the composition, adds depth and dimension, drawing the viewer inward—an invitation to pause and notice the richness of these placements.

Yet in its stillness, it speaks profoundly of the grounding rhythm found in everyday routines. Here, the shoes embody a kind of ritual care and renewal, reminders of how the smallest, most habitual gestures shape our days and give order to our lives. What might otherwise be mundane becomes something akin to a meditation: the act of cleaning, airing, and arranging objects becomes a way of nurturing not just the self, but a sense of connection to the spaces we inhabit.

As part of this exhibition, this photograph pays homage to the details of urban life that so often go unnoticed. These are the moments that lend texture to daily existence: the objects we handle and care for, the spaces where repetition creates meaning. The badminton shoes and their surrounding ephemera, though personal, resonate as part of a larger cultural narrative, particularly within Singapore’s heartlands, where the sport enjoys a lasting, collective significance.

Identity is often constructed in the midst of the everyday, and that it is in these small, unassuming acts that we find the rhythms of both individual and communal life. It opens a window to the overlooked beauty of domestic rituals. It asks us to look again at our own habits, to find in them a quiet resonance, and to recognise how the objects we care for sustain the deeper patterns of our lives, and the spaces we inhabit.

Three Brothers

Three Brothers presents three towering public housing blocks in central Bukit Panjang as symbols of connection and resilience. Their close proximity suggests the intimacy of a familial bond, framed by the shadow of an overhead bridge that anchors the composition. The sharp contrasts of light and shadow draw our gaze to the buildings, which rise steadfastly against an expansive sky. The title deepens this metaphor, encouraging us to see the architecture not just as structures, but as enduring embodiments of relationship and strength.

The shaded foreground functions both as a frame and a reminder of the urban environment's complexity. From the bridge, the perspective leads us upward, highlighting the blocks as luminous figures amidst the dense cityscape. This quiet interplay of contrasts resonates with the rhythms of the heartlands, where family and community thrive even in the most unassuming spaces.

As part of In Between Spaces, this photograph reflects the resilience and human connections that seem to seep into urban life. There’s a kind parallel between the enduring strength of architecture with the values of family and belonging, ideals at the heart of Singapore’s identity. The image invites us to consider how the spaces we inhabit shape our sense of connection and home. By portraying the towering housing as symbols of steadfast relationships, the work encourages viewers to reflect on their own bonds and the architecture of belonging in their own lives.

Small, Hiding

Small, Hiding reimagines an unassuming shed, nestled within the Rail Corridor at Bukit Panjang, symbolising both privacy and solitude. Surrounded by dense foliage and bathed in filtered light, the shed stands both isolated and illuminated. Bright white walls push against the encroaching shadows of the surrounding greenery, creating a quiet but arresting image. Blurred foreground elements amplify this sense of distance and ambivalence, suggesting a simultaneous yearning to observe and an aversion to being seen. There is an unease in the scene, a voyeuristic tension, as though the viewer is peeking into a hidden realm from the comfort of concealment.

The title itself captures these hidden meanings, signalling ideas of retreat and exposure, safety and vulnerability. It provokes a poignant question: Is this shed a sanctuary, or does its seclusion magnify the solitude of such hidden spaces? Within the densely populated context of Singapore, where personal space is at once cherished and constrained, this question becomes particularly resonant. The harsh illumination on the shed underscores the tension that exists when we seek solitude in a world where visibility feels both inevitable and intrusive.

This work aligns seamlessly with the overarching themes of the exhibition, navigating the liminal zones between public and private, presence and absence. It encourages viewers to reflect on their own relationship with solitude and the spaces they inhabit in pursuit of it. By transforming a forgotten, overlooked structure into a potent symbol of introspection, the photograph challenges us to reconsider the act of hiding in a world where even the most intimate sanctuaries cannot fully escape scrutiny. Not even within the neighbourhood.