Car Drawings (Flyover)

Lai Yu Tong routinely investigates notions of the mundane and adequacy in daily life by way of drawing, sculpture and photography. The artist’s practice relies on the conditions of observation (ie. what can be seen or heard from his apartment windows, wherein he also has his studio) and modest, ubiquitous materials like newspapers, cardboard boxes, and wood. From this perch, symbols of life emerge and are recorded, marking the innocuous as peculiar, sad, hopeful.

Lai has presented solo exhibitions at The Substation (Singapore), DECK (Singapore), Comma Space (Singapore), Temporary Unit (Singapore), and Barely Fair (Chicago, USA). His works have also been shown in group exhibitions and independent projects locally and abroad including NTU ADM Gallery (Singapore), SIngapore Art Museum (Singapore), starch (Singapore). Plaque Space (Russia), and YPC Space (Seoul, Korea). He received the National Arts Council Scholarship in 2017 for his undergraduate studies at the LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore.

Besides his art, Lai publishes under Thumb Books, his self-founded art book press that makes children’s books for both children and adults. His recent curatorial projects include Frida (2023), an art space by his kitchen window; and Robin (2022), a series of group exhibitions in camping tents around Singapore.