​楊子扬 Yeo Tze Yang

888

SEA Focus (2024), FOST Gallery, Singapore

​

Numerology holds profound significance in the vernacular Chinese culture of Singapore and across Southeast Asia, where numbers are imbued with auspicious connotations. The number 8 is particularly revered, symbolizing prosperity and financial success. Its presence—whether on license plates, residential addresses, or personal belongings—is often perceived as an omen of good fortune. The tripling of this number into “888” is believed to amplify its auspicious power. In this series, Yeo Tze Yang wryly engages with this cultural phenomenon, at once referencing and satirizing its ubiquitous influence.

​

At first glance, the three works appear disparate in subject matter: a breakfast of soft-boiled eggs on toast, a pair of tyres, and the upper torso of a man clad in a football jersey. Yet, a closer look reveals an almost obsessive imposition of the number eight upon these everyday motifs. The tyres, for instance, are deliberately rotated to visually approximate the numeral, underscoring the absurdity of seeking fortune through arbitrary symbols. However, beneath this playful critique lies a deeper empathy—Tze Yang, having grown up in Singapore, acknowledges the human impulse to find meaning, or even the slightest edge of fortune, within the structures of an increasingly stratified society.

​

For this series, Tze Yang departs from his conventional practice, painting on unstretched canvas reminiscent of the tarpaulin banners commonly seen in urban life, and incorporating a sculptural element in clay. The juxtaposition of varied media heightens the sense of serendipity and randomness, reinforcing the very notion of luck that the works seek to examine. Through this interplay of materiality and concept, Tze Yang offers a nuanced reflection on the intersection of superstition, aspiration, and the everyday.