Discover the artist and ideas behind the new anniversary art commissions.
The artist for the College’s Anniversary Art Commission, Erika Tan, explains the inspiration behind her work. Newnham’s community was invited to contribute texts, which she has expressed through a display of hanging banners and series of ceramic plates. The spectacular installation engages with the way Newnham’s histories are understood and how we might imagine our collective futures.
Erika will offer two sessions on Sunday at 11 and 11.30 AM.
ERIKA TAN was born in Singapore and is based in London. She studied Social Anthropology and Archaeology at Cambridge (KC 1987), Film Directing at The Beijing Film Academy, followed by an Advanced Diploma in Film & Video and an MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. Tan’s research-led practice manifests in multiple formats including large installations, moving image, print, 3Dworks, publications, participatory and curatorial projects. Evolving from an interest in anthropology and the moving image, her work is often informed by specific cultural, geographical or physical contexts. Her research interests focus on the postcolonial and transnational, working with archival artefacts, exhibition histories, received narratives, contested heritage, subjugated voices and the transnational movement of ideas, people and objects – in doing so, she seeks to question the possibilities of a different future. Tan’s work is collected and exhibited internationally. She was the Stanley Picker Fellow in Fine Art, Kingston University, London 2018 – 2022 and is currently an Associate Researcher with Decolonising Arts Institute (UAL), Reader of Contemporary Art Practice and MAFA Course Leader at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London.
Photo (c) Erika Tan