HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS 悬念 (I) (II) (III). 2018.

Hills Like White Elephants 悬念 (I) (II) (III) shines a misty, pregnant, light on the tension between family identity and everyday conflict, through a reading of Ernest Hemingway’s text of a similar name. Recognisable China are visually inseparable and suspended; multiple thoughts and decisions are hanging like clouds; weathered, patterned surfaces seen through a fog. The triptych belongs to each other, yet stands as individuals. They reflects on the feminine personhood, using the visual metaphor of 花瓶 (flower vase, or, woman-on-display), alongside the expectations of a family unit.

These drawings are also a play on the artist’s name. The etymology of ‘Yan’ 彦 describes the patterned surfaces of cliff facades from the soil, rocks, and minerals of the earth, 悬崖花斑. It is also through our name—the act of naming—that we are bound to our families inseparably.

First exhibited as part of "Still, Singapore Life” Group show at Art Seasons Gallery, Singapore, from 31st August 2018 to 12 October 2018.
Exhibited in “She/Her” Group show at Appetite SG by Nouri Restaurant Singapore, from 14th August 2020 to 30th November 2020. [Online Exhibition]