CHRISTAL SIH

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IN + BETWEEN: Singapore’s Post-Colonial Identity Through Food 

Watch the demo reel and full view of the installation in action here, and a plate perspective here!

“IN + BETWEEN” is an imagined exhibition, examining Singapore’s post-colonial identity through the lens of food. With this project I wanted to present Singapore as an interesting case study to a global audience, of how food can be a key factor in the construction of culture and identity. 

With a total land area of no more than 277.3 square miles, Singapore as a country is much smaller than its Southeast Asian neighbors (and even New York City). Despite that, the city-state has grown from third world to first in the 50 years of its independence; from a British colonial trading post to a global economic powerhouse.  

As Singapore grows, along with it grows efforts to actively construct a national identity. As a young postcolonial country, what can be uniquely Singaporean in the global context that Singaporeans are acutely aware of? Validating the nation is important because the viability of it needs to be insisted on—both to an internal and external audience. 

Food culture comes into play here as it has been the most successful in making Singapore cool in a recognizably global way, and it identifies itself as a culinary destination. Singaporean food 
itself is also evidence of the intersections of culture that are unique to the nation—through hybridity, 
a different kind of authenticity 
is born.

Thus, hybridity is the theme of this imagined exhibition—hence the stylization of the name “IN + BETWEEN”. Hybridity pervades and defines Singaporean culture and history, and in this proposed exhibition I wanted to focus on the cultural intersections of “local + international”, “old + new” as well as “local + local”. The provided brochure would give some  historical context for each of these categories. With the content of this exhibition I aim to show one of the ways in which the postcolonial state of “in-betweenness” can become its own state of being as well.

The installation projection onto a table is meant to be an engaging way to present parts of the narrative, one that was inspired by and evokes conversations that take place over meals. Playing with a collage-like style, I want to show in the demo reel how the photographic images of food can be played with to communicate this narrative—as icon, symbol, landscape and even just decoration.

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Delicatessen Plate 

This hand glazed plate is inspired by the movie Delicatessen, where biscuits and lentils are a luxurious commodity in a dystopian world where people have resorted to eating human flesh. The concept behind the design was that any food placed on top of this plate would look decadent, in comparison to the austere plate. The bottom of the plate is also glazed with a blood red, the halo of which being a reminder of the gory context of the movie. 

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QUEEN Motion Identity

This is part of a motion identity sizzle reel for QUEEN—an imaginary TV station dedicated to drag queens. Watch the full reel here!

With this brand and motion identity I wanted to evoke the things that I love most about drag queens: the element of fantasy, energy and confidence. With the speech bubble shape and text, I also wanted to reference the catchy colloquialisms that are a big part of drag culture.

Music: Sexy Drag Queen by RuPaul

Footage: RuPaul’s Drag Race produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV Music videos by Adore Delano and Willam Belli

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Do Your Thing, Chicken Wing!

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Book Trailer

This is part of a trailer that I made in my motion graphics class for the book Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of The World by Haruki Murakami—watch the full thing here! 

A strange and dreamlike novel, the chapters alternate between two narratives—Hard-Boiled Wonderland is both mystery and science-fiction, and The End of the World is a bleak and surreal fantasy. For my trailer I wanted to use the interplaying motifs of light and shadow in the novel to represent the intersecting worlds, as well as convey the sense of suspense and unease throughout the story. 

Music is Poltergeist by myuu.

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Watermelon & Bibb Lettuce Salad Illustration

An illustration of the ingredients that go into a watermelon and bibb lettuce salad, from the Atwater's Ploughboy Kitchen menu. This was hung up in the cafe at Falls Road, Baltimore, along with other “menu items” from Rebecca Bradley’s Illustrating the Edible class. 

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Beef Curry Illustrated Recipe 

My grandmother's signature beef curry is well-loved by family and friends, and it is one of the dishes I miss the most being away from my home in Singapore. The precise recipe has been refined over many years of cooking, and I really wanted to do it justice. While presenting my own interpretation of it, my grandmother's hand-writing in the background represents her touch.

This was done in Rebecca Bradley's Illustrating the Edible class at the Maryland Institute College of Art, for the illustrated recipe website They Draw and Cook. 

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Street Art Brief

In this brief that I worked on during my exchange at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland, the Castle Rock Edinvar housing association identified various graffiti hotspots around their estates. They wanted a street art installation that would be aesthetically pleasing to the residents of the area as well as discouraging to taggers. 

In my design I wanted to combine both pattern and text to create something uplifting and decorative, but not too stylistically specific. To make it more culturally relevant to Edinburgh (a UNESCO City of Literature) I thought it would be nice to use quotes from a writer like Sir Walter Scott, whose writings are already celebrated in the Edinburgh Waverly railway station. 

The original design was meant to be in two separate pieces, but eventually they both had to be combined into one. I wanted to do so in a way that would maintain the structure of the original lettering, as well as add visual interest. The piece itself was installed after I had left Edinburgh. 

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Objective/Subjective Posters

Posters for my installation Objective/Subjective, highlighting the accumulation of objects and memories over the the course of one’s lifetime.

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Objective/Subjective

Why do we hold on to certain objects? The personal sentiments underlying an object’s cultural, utilitarian and aesthetic value interests me very much. Sentiment and nostalgia are universal experiences; with objects being a vessel of which with all their cultural, utilitarian and aesthetic associations—it connect us all in a way that transcends time and place. For this project, I collected stories from friends around the world — Korea, America, Singapore, Israel, Scotland and Japan. 

I’d like people to take a moment to think about their own relationships with objects—by playing with the dynamic of private and public through making visible the inner worlds of others, I wanted to invite the audience to see personal connections with complete strangers. With this, I had hoped to be a part of the conversation about what makes us human.

I was also inspired by the installations Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) by Félix Gonzales Torres, The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk and You and I by Song-Ming Ang. One of the things I had also identified about objects is the way they preserve memories and ideas beyond the context they had originated in. Thus, it was important for me that viewers were able to take a piece of my installation back with them.

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Lavender Lemonade Ice Pop Instructions

A step by step guide to making KarmaPop’s Lavender Lemonade ice pops, based on a demonstration by KarmaPop’s Krystal Mack! With this poster I wanted to show the friendly and down to earth nature of her business, as well as the extensive process behind her handmade products. 

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Food Illustrations: Dim Sum & Seafood

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Love (Lucky Number 8) 

Part of my series of illustrations Come & See, which explores Eastern and Western iconography. Products are available here!

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Closet Craft App Promo

Watch the full video promo here!

Closet Craft is an imagined app that presents a fun and casual way to be on top of your wardrobe! Using the collage effect as both a stylistic theme as well as a functional tool, I wanted to bring out the fun of putting oufits together in a physical manner similar to making paper dolls or scrapbooking. The intended purpose of this app was also to reduce waste (of money and clothes) that might occur from not keeping an inventory of what's in your closet.

Music by Mura Masa.

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Maryland Responds Pictograms 

(Pictures posted with permission of Maryland Responds) 

In Fall '14, I was part of team of designers consisting of Lauren Siminski, Omar Choudhury, Trace Byrd, Anna Spisak and supervised by Ryan Clifford who was assisted by Emily Ianacone. As part of the MICA Center for Social Design's Design Practice program, we worked together with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to help Maryland Responds (Maryland's medical and public health volunteer corps) strategise and design a branded campaign to recruit more volunteers. 

After much research, immersion and brain-storming over the course of the semester, we eventually focused on activating current volunteers while recruiting more (with a particular focus on medical professionals). As part of this this large undertaking of rebranding and creating material, I was in charge of designing pictograms to accompany the campaign. 

The tone of the campaign was urgent and about action, but at the same time emphasised community. To communicate this with my pictograms I altered standard styles to make them friendly and more approachable, but at the same time having the same immediacy and weight in its message. For the pictograms of different disaster types specifically, I wanted to make them more relatable by using a sad house to represent one's home being affected. 

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Blobby Baby Collectible Toy  

I’m currently working on making toys of my Blobby Baby mascot (multiples cast in resin)! This is the original design, hand-sculpted out of Sculpey clay. 

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Little Big Magazine

This magazine is inspired by my toy and memorabilia collection, and is dedicated to any form of art and culture involving character design.I named it Little Big for the reason that despite their miniature size, these collectible objects are much bigger than themselves. As gifts, they carry the sentiments and memories of people; as icons, they bear associations with cultural and corporate entities.

For my magazine I wanted to elevate characters to the status of cultural objects, and so I borrowed the design language of my favourite art magazines with the black and white and minimalistic type choice—using Graphik as the only typeface. I also wanted the colours of the characters to speak for themselves.

As for the black feature spreads, I wanted to use the blobs as a running motif in the feature story—they are meant to be windows into fantasy and otherworldiness, while at the same time referencing camouflage and war.