About Us
The initiative seeks to examine/relook at the relationship of craft in the 21st century at the intersections of fine arts/contemporary art practice and technology. The impetus for this project is precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and our relationship to the home (and activities around it) as a site of radical domesticity.
Citing historical trajectories of these communal practices, the Critical Craft Collective (CCC) will also foreground elements of story telling that are embedded in the process of making. The CCC is focused on highlighting different ideals and reimagining notions of nurturing and care away from traditional (gendered) norms.
We subscribe fully to a quote by artist Trinh T. Minh-Ha who spoke about the process of “speaking nearby”, which refers to “a speaking that does not objectify, does not point to an object as if it is distant from the speaking place. A speaking that reflects on itself and can come very close to a subject without, however, seizing or claiming it.”
Co-creators
Hazel Lim
Hazel Lim (b. 1975) is a visual artist with a background in painting and employs text, crafting methods and drawings to create installations that delve into the production of narratives, notions of displacement, construction of histories and imaginary landscapes. In her current research on the Aesthetics of Care, Hazel is employing crafting techniques such as needlework and paper craft to investigate the utility of diagrams, image making and colour theory, whilst at the same time, interrogating the relationship of craft to the domestic and feminine.
Hazel currently leads the BA(Hons) programme in the McNally School of Fine Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts and has taken part in exhibitions showcased in Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, Ireland, Germany, Austria, US and Vietnam. Hazel was an Associate Artist with Substation, Singapore from 2004-2012 and is one of the artists commissioned for Singapore Biennale 2013/2014 and showed her work entitled A Botanical and Wildlife Survey at the Singapore Peranakan Museum. She recently collaborated with her partner, Andreas Schlegel on a commissioned installation work, The Oort Cloud and the Blue Mountain for The Children Biennale 2019 in The National Gallery of Singapore and the Kinderbiënnale 2021 at Groninger Museum, Netherlands.
Her website is: https://www.limhazel.com/
Adeline Kueh
Adeline Kueh (b. 1971) makes installations, photography and embodied works that reconsider the relationship we have with things and rituals around us. Her works are imbued with a sense of desire and longing, and act as modern-day totems that explore personal histories and overlooked moments. As a co-founder of the Craft Council of Singapore, Adeline uses drawing as a conceptual tool to try to map out the historical trajectories across time and space through her use of found objects and new production.
Presently a Senior Lecturer with the MA Fine Arts programme (with McNally School of Fine Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts), Adeline has exhibited in the United Kingdom, USA, South Korea, The Netherlands, Turkey, Indonesia, Serbia, Australia and Singapore. Rooted in critical studies, Adeline has chaired and presented at a number of cultural studies conferences in the UK, Germany, Australia, Finland, Hungary, Singapore and Malaysia. She was involved in the Word of Mouth exhibition in the 2019 Venice Biennale, and was a consultant/designer for projects including the Passion Made Possible Culture Shaper Tribe Films (Singapore Tourism Board) in 2019 and Hermes Singapore in 2016. Currently, Adeline is part of Singapore Tyler Print Institute’s Visiting Artists Programme (VAP) Residency in 2021.
