Nathan Tan Yew Wai
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Nathan Tan Yew Wai (b. 1995, Singapore) is an artist and printmaker whose work explores the relationships between human presence and aquatic life in Singapore’s freshwater environments. Through field research, underwater documentation, and print-based experimentation, he investigates how natural and manmade ecologies intersect, revealing fragile systems of adaptation and coexistence. Grounded in printmaking, Tan extends his practice to techniques such as screen printing on aluminum and laser-cut plywood to create layered material narratives. His work often reflects on ornamental fishkeeping and the ethical implications of aesthetic-driven human intervention. Tan has exhibited internationally in Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, and Vietnam, including selections for the 8th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland and the 4th ASEAN Graphic Art Competition and Exhibition. He holds a Diploma in Fine Art (Drawing and Printmaking) from NAFA and is pursuing a BA (Hons) Fine Art at University of the Arts London at NAFA.My practice explores the relationship between human intervention and aquatic life within Southeast Asian freshwater environments, with a focus on Singapore’s waterways and the ornamental fish trade. Grounded in printmaking, I use the medium as a tool for documentation, dissemination, and critical reflection, drawing on its historical role in recording and preserving cultural narratives.
Through field research, underwater observation, and print-based experimentation, I examine how urban development, aesthetic desire, and systems of control reshape fragile ecosystems. Extending traditional print processes, I work with expanded formats such as screen printing on aluminum and laser-cut plywood to reflect the tension between organic life and manufactured systems.
Title: LabGrown: Modifying in Motion (II)
Year: 2026
Medium: Screen print on aluminium, 5 DC motors, electronic circuits (AA battery holders, switches, copper wire), aluminium-wrapped box
Statement:
LabGrown: Modification in Motion (II) examines human intervention within the ornamental fish industry, where aquatic life is altered to satisfy human aesthetic desire. Influenced by industrial materials and the laboratory as sites of control and experimentation, the work reflects on imposed movement and the erosion of agency. The electronic circuitry, often hidden from view, invites closer inspection of the forces driving such manipulation. Here, screen print, traditionally a static medium, is activated through motorised and repetitive motion, echoing processes of replication and control. The work positions engineered aesthetics alongside questions of motion, mechanics, and mechanical agency.