Flora-fauna hybrids in this cool art exhibition by Adeline Tan (aka Mightyellow)

Adeline Tan (aka Mightyellow)'s work is not all about pretty flowers. Flora-fauna hybrids make for scary-cool art works in Tan’s first solo exhibition, Heirloom, on from 11 March – 8 April 2017, at the contemporary art oriented Mulan Gallery, located on Armenian Street.

Flowers are more likely to come with mouths, tentacles and other appendages in Adeline Tan’s world. Take Singapore Girl (above) for instance – on first view, it’s an art illustration of what seems to be a cluster of lavender hydrangeas. Look closer, and teeth appear amidst the petals, with the plant looking more poisoned with purple than just pleasantly pastel (shudder).

Exploring the importance of love, evolution and familial relations as bulwarks against social and environmental ills, Tan depicts nature-slash-humanity’s survivors of a post-apocalyptic future as anthromorphic creatures with personalities of their own. With titles such as Patriach and Kampong Spirit, the ink and acrylic drawings (priced from $1,000 – $3, 000) are committed mainly on paper, fibre board and canvas, with the largest measuring 2m x 2m, with most coming in a wall-estate friendly 42cm x 42cm.

While these art works represent the core of her practice, she has extended her artistry to the realms of fashion and print. Tan has also worked on campaigns for Adidas, Uniqlo, and Lululemon and has had her works exhibited in Hong Kong and the UK. Her drawings have appeared in the pages of Wall Street Journal and Female magazine, where she contributed a blue floral letter “F” illustration to its Art & Design January 2017 issue.

Tiger Mom, approximately 42x60cm, size M, ladies denim jacket

It is perhaps this willingness to explore different mediums, that we see Tan pushing herself in this exhibition, with her flower motifs appearing as a graphic on a denim jacket and an all-over print on a baby blue coloured vintage coin operated kiddy ride. While these are the highlights of the show, we won’t exactly advise you to try on the jacket or ride the machine. They are, however, up for sale (the former goes for $600 and the latter, $3,500) so you can get your hands on them and pass these art works down as not only investment pieces but also heirlooms. Admission to the exhibition is free. 

This article was first published on Female magazine.