Exhibitions

Fleur Kakasi's modern watercolour artworks take on this restrained and technical, yet flamboyant style in a new exhibition titled Cloisonne.

Open from 19th April until 30th May 2024 in Art Ice Gallery, located at 20 Duxton Hill, Singapore, 089603. Stop by for a refreshment, and explore the artworks at your leisure!

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Several works feature actual antique cloisonne pieces with contemporary tropical floral arrangements. Others take on architectural themes with lush tropical borders offsetting harsh lines. The works juxtapose local south east Asian flora with these more 'formal' vessels, whether they be ceramic or architectural. Colours are bold and fresh, but layered with form and detail to create pieces that capture the whimsy and structure of the original cloisonne.

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Cloisonne is a traditional decorative technique for ceramics, where designs are laid out in brass compartments (or cloisons) and enamelled with bold colours. Cloisonne objects were intended primarily for the furnishing of temples and palaces because their flamboyant splendour was considered appropriate to the function of these structures, but not well suited to a more restrained atmosphere such as that of a scholar's home. This opinion was expressed by Cao Zhao in 1388 in his influential Gegu Yaolun guide to the study of antiquities. in which cloisonne was dismissed as being suitable only for lady's chambers. However, by the period of emperor Xuande, this ware came to be greatly prized at court.