A White Story

STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery

About Artwork

The artist’s accordion books recall her own inclinations toward designing and collecting books, as well as her love for stained glass. The paper materials themselves connote the idea of strength and fragility. Inserted into the sturdier frame are untreated mulberry papers (bleached and unbleached) and lettuce papers made largely from lettuce and a binding agent. Through this kind of translucency and malleability in being, the work holds open the space for change and transformation to occur over time.

The use of lettuce here further recall’s White’s inclination for chance and experimentation to leak into her works created at STPI: from her explorations of Singapore with the STPI team, White picked up a variety of vegetables, including citrus fruits and chilli, which she trialed with during her residency. This artistic investigative spirit was further bolstered by the workshop team’s encouragement, where it is never a firm “no” but rather, a willingness to explore new methods of production. Though only the lettuce found its way into her accordion books eventually, it is nevertheless a testament to the experimental nature of her time spent in Singapore.

Artist Profile

Pae White’s diverse practice is marked by her uses of unconventional materials such as glass, marble,
fabric, marzipan, marshmallows, and vinyl. Merging art, design, craft and architecture, White responds
to materials and the site to create captivating works that challenge our perception and expectation
of mediums and techniques. By collaborating with different artisans and industrial fabricators, the
artist realises her ideas through playful explorations, reflecting a desire to create work beyond her
personal skillset.

At STPI, the artist allowed for chance and collaboration to guide her artistic production. This resulted in
a wide series of works that combines recurring motifs in her oeuvre, such as the use of alphabets and
threads, with the opportunities presented to her at STPI’s workshop and in Singapore; for example, the
use of lettuce as material and heavily exploring the flocking technique on two-dimensional surfaces.
All in all, explorations were made into ideas such as space, colours, material, rhythm and movement,
and change and transformation.

Recent solo exhibitions and public commissions include Friendship is Magic, STPI, Singapore (2021);
~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~v2, neugerriemschneider, Berlin (2021); Noisy Blushes, San Jose Museum of Art, San
Jose (2020), Beta Space: Pae White, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose (2019); Presumptive Close,
greengrassi, London (2018); Demondaine, Kaufmann Repetto Gallery, Milan (2017); Qwalala, Le Stanze
del Vetro, Venice (2017); Command- Shift-4, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle
(2015); Special No. 127, neugerriemschneider, Berlin (2014); Genau or Never, greengrassi, London
(2014); O R L L E G R O, MAK, Vienna (2013); Too much night, again, South London Gallery, London
(2013) and S U M M E R X X, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia (2012); among many
others.

Her works are part of prominent public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA),
New York; Tate Modern, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Art Institute of Chicago; and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

Artist:

Pae White

Medium:

Lasercut paper with bleached mulberry insert

Size:

23 x 596cm

Year:

2018