Agatha Tan

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Don’t Stretch Before You Run, and Other Advice You Will Ignore

I came to Yale-NUS specifically because I wanted study creative writing and write queer Young Adult fiction—which is what I am doing for my capstone! My interests lie in crafting narratives and worldbuilding, both in fiction and game design, and I am currently toying with the idea of becoming a game writer. Eventually, I would also like to get an MFA in Fiction. In my free time, I enjoy fanfiction, video games and fanfiction about video games.

Alistair Ryan Chong

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Afterlife: A Short Film

I remain stubbornly and foolishly passionate about film despite the college not offering a film major. My blind optimism has led me to pursue film as a medium for my capstone project, an endeavour that has earned me the triple task of screenwriting, producing and directing a short film. Throwing all caution to the wind, my short film deals with themes of what it means to be an obedient member of society, the concept of an afterlife, and the epistemological good. I hope that my obstinate insistence on my preferred medium will not only keep me happy, but also finally pay for my bills (and more) in the future.

 

Chia Yaim Chong

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: day/dreams

I recall feeling a great sense of existential dread the moment before selecting my first ever elective in Yale-NUS: Intro to the Arts. Mixed in with the dread, however, was a sense that there was nothing else quite right for me here, and of the many regrets gathered since that moment none of them have to do with choosing A&H. A story-teller across multiple platforms and mediums, I work mostly through music and creative writing. I also have training as a mixing engineer, after taking courses on audio production and recording in Valencia and Brooklyn through Yale-NUS. I am aiming to release an EP titled inconsistent in early 2020 and am currently working on my capstone, an album surrounding issues of self, identity and nation. A supper enthusiast, you can often find me awake at odd hours.

Isabel Fang

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: O

I really likes the artistic mediums of animation and fashion. Perhaps they are a bit more commercial than most fine arts, but they’re beautiful and modern ways of storytelling and expression that aren’t confined to an exhibition space. So I decided to bring them together to make a 2D animated fashion commercial for my capstone.

Capstone aside, I freelance as an animator, illustrator and graphic designer. I also enjoys things outside of the art world, including bouldering, dancing, make-up and horror movies.

Kathy Poh

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Appetite: Trade and Consumption in 17th Century Dutch Still-Life Painting

I chose the Arts and Humanities major because I see the arts as a field that I will always have endless fascination for. I enjoy thinking about ways that rules and languages of artistic mediums can be bent to create new methods of telling stories. I am interested in the intersections between art and ecology, especially in relation to thinking about art as forms of social intervention. My capstone project is an exploration of how canonical art history can be retold from an ecological perspective.

I aspire to become a curator in the visual arts. I previously participated in the Singapore Ambassadors Programme at the Venice Art Biennale, and the Youth Jury and Critics Programme at the Singapore International Film Festival. During my free time, I enjoy watching arthouse films and drag makeup tutorials. In the near future, I hope to learn how to make gnocchi.

Kwan Yi-Hao, Andrew

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Forget me not, a 2D animated short film.

Growing up, I spent almost all my free time watching TV, reading storybooks and comics, and leaving my parents thoroughly dumbfounded as to why I could recite 10-minute episodes of Spongebob Squarepants word-for-word but couldn’t pass science or mathematics.

I see life as a series of stories, television shows, and movies, choosing Arts and Humanities as my major to learn how to tell these stories in the best ways possible. I am also pursuing a minor in Psychology and am passionate about integrating discussions about mental health into my work. My capstone is a 2D animated short film about an elderly man reminiscing about his past as he prepares to visit his wife who has dementia. My goal in life is to create content that can make people feel happier with themselves and about the world around them, and I hope to someday create original animated cartoons. I am looking into career paths that involve writing, animating, composing or acting.

I have played tennis since the age of four and wanted to go to cooking school over university, continuing my impressive streak of distressing my parents.

Low Xiang Qi Crystal

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Replica

Despite initially intending to major in Philosophy, I realised that I could not detach myself from the life of art making and found myself mesmerised by the world of illustration and comics. I became obsessed with drawing and made the decision to properly dedicate myself to the study of visual arts as I realised that the Arts and Humanities major provided me with both a creative platform and the freedom to still investigate my other fields of passions and academic interests.

In my free time, I listen to a lot of Korean Hip Hop music (my favourite rapper being Woo Won Jae for his moody tone and sobering lyrics) and also dance with my Hip Hop crew. As a huge fan of anything in the horror genre, I aspire to become a horror comic artist just like my hugest horror inspiration, Junji Ito.

Mah Ye-Chao Nathaniel

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Tonight At The Heavenly Host: David Sings The Psalms

I chose the Arts and Humanities major because I am deeply interested in the art of storytelling. The Arts and Humanities courses at Yale-NUS have not only allowed me to explore different mediums and expressions of storytelling, but have also helped me to discover my own preoccupations and the stories I want to tell. As an example of this, for my capstone, I am writing a narrative concert/musical about the biblical character, King David, which explores notions of memory, shame, and impostorism. After graduation, I will be working at National Gallery Singapore, but I hope to continue making music and pursuing theatre on the side.

Sya Nabilah

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Letters to Finland (a short film about the end of the world)

My secret dream is to be a geologist, but Yale-NUS does not offer that major so here I am. Truthfully, I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. I love stories and will believe in almost anything. In the future, I hope to make films, have cats and be married to an astronaut (although I could also settle for a pilot). For now, I like painting, sleeping and all kinds of mail (snail, electronic, etc).

Tay Jing Hui

Class of 2020

Capstone Project: Your Body is a Temple: An Illustrative Picture Book

I came to Yale-NUS because I wanted to try everything and was lucky because I ended up switching to Arts and Humanities at the last minute, as I realised I was more focused on my slide aesthetics than my content for presentations. I have dabbled in theatre, dance too much, according to my mom, and am illustrating a children’s book for my capstone. I enjoys kaya, drawing the perfect eyeliner and saying hello to snails.

Winnie Tan

Class of 2021

I entered Yale-NUS College with dreams to become a journalist, but multiple editorial experiences in the fashion and design industry have led me to pursue my interests in fashion instead. Fluent in the latest fashion week trends and the biggest names in the industry, the Arts and Humanities major has allowed me to further explore the foundations of fashion as fine art.

Although not particularly deft with a sewing needle, I enjoy analysing business development strategies employed by the fashion industry, especially in the fields of inclusivity and sustainability. Throughout my time at Yale-NUS, I co-founded the College’s Fashion Society and organised multiple events for the community, bringing various stakeholders from the local fashion industry onboard. I also attended Parsons Paris, The New School, where I studied strategic design and management in fashion for a semester and worked at Paris Fashion Week,  where I met some famous people very briefly from 50 feet away.

Yanni Chia

Class of 2021

I am trying to understand how to free things from the drudgery of being useful. Confronted with the anxieties of having to be a valuable and productive member of society especially with graduation approaching, my works seek to engage by disengaging and exploring the relationship between spontaneous play in a world which seems ruled by functional rationality. Isn’t the concept of ‘play’ at the core of the liberal arts? I actively work to disprove the myth of the starving artist by hoping to become useful someday, the irony is whether I am right. My professional cliental helps with this affirmation to some extent (https://yannich14.wixsite.com/yawnyvisuals). Having rumbled through four years of the college life, I can at least say that I have found myself to be a pro at crastinating.