The Singapore painter reflects on how art pushes him to explore the world—and the deepest parts of his psyche.
This March, Tatler invited some of Singapore’s most dynamic young artists to reveal how they are pushing boundaries in their art practice and create exclusive self-portraits for us. In the second part of our Portrait of an Artist series, we speak to Ruben Pang.
As an artist whose work delves deeply into philosophical concepts such as life, death and reincarnation, it is perhaps natural that Ruben Pang lives his own life to the fullest.
“If I have an opportunity to do something that I haven’t done before, that feels vaguely appealing or compelling, I tend to do it,” says Pang via a Zoom call from Sardinia, Italy.
This quest to seek personal growth is what compelled Pang to relocate to the Mediterranean island in 2020, smack in the middle of the pandemic, at a time when most people would rather not cross borders. He muses: “I think you should choose to do the things that scare you a little bit. That’s how it has always been for me.”
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After all, this is a painter who has, over the years, consistently pushed his practice to the limits to critical acclaim, whether it is by painting on aluminium panels instead of canvas or by travelling to different corners of the planet to seek inspiration.
For instance, his 2015 solo show Transfiguration in Israel was the culmination of an artist residency that he did in the country. In 2018, he was commissioned to create a triptych called The Totalitarian Sun for the Italian exhibition La Meccanica delle Meraviglie, where he exhibited alongside influential artists Gabriele Picco and Laura Renna.
“I think of painting as a kind of travel, a heightened state of sensitivity. I like epic themes and I think my work has to do with the body and mind as a sort of unstable vessel,” says Pang of his evocative paintings, which often brim with energy and intensity.
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