When I began my residency at The Laboratory of Artistic Intelligence, I wasn’t only researching the relationship between care and ecological responsibility, I was searching for a way to push my practice beyond the gallery. My principle in art-making is simple: If this conversation stays within the institution boundaries, and never reaches people who live in the environments we claim to care about together, then what am I doing as an artist?
That question became the seed for Under the Orange Sun. What started as studio-based research slowly transformed into a participatory public work, something that required people, not just ideas. The project ultimately unfolded during the Waste Reduction Event at Scadding Court Community Centre in 2025, a place that aligns with what I believe art should be: accessible, communal, and grounded in everyday experience.
Collective Memory, and Environmental Care
At Scadding Court, Under the Orange Sun shifted from concept into encounter. Children, teenagers, adults, and elders painted and shaped papier-mâché forms side by side. People shared stories about water, memories of rivers and oceans from home. The artwork grew in real time from these conversations. In those moments, my artistic creation didn’t live in a gallery anymore, it lived in the way people worked together. That was the transformation I had been looking for.
Over the course of three workshops with local volunteers coming from high schools in the neighborhood, and the public event itself, more than 130 attendees engaged with the project, giving me a strong visual sense of public interest in art-driven environmental dialogue.
Co-creation and Intergenerational Participation
Instead of offering just a finished artwork, I built a platform for engagement. Eleven high school students, representing diverse Asian heritages, came together to construct 100 papier-mâché aquatic sculptures from wasted materials collected through the community centre. The process became an exercise in mentorship and reciprocal learning: these young artists were not simply assisting a project, they were shaping it.
As a result, each piece was taken home by a community member, allowing the project’s impact to extend beyond the venue. People left with both an artwork, and a tangible reminder of the importance of protecting our environment.
What defines my practice is in the intention itself. In Under the Orange Sun, touch, shape, and improvisation are built into the structure of the experience. I trust participants, from youth volunteers to elders, to reshape the artwork as they wish.
I hope to continue developing projects like this in the future, working closely with communities to explore11 a shared space where everyone becomes both maker and meaning.
