Mabel Tan: Let’s go to the Clayground

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Mabel Tan, "Let's Go to the Clayground," 2019

Let’s go to the Clayground an exhibition by Mabel Tan is an active investigation of forms and shapes in new spaces, environment, and communities.Throughout the course of the project, the public will be able to engage with the clayground, visually and physically, as Tan invites the public to play, ask, imagine and sketch.

-What kind of playground do you enjoy?

-How do you play with others?

-How do you have fun?

Being raised in a Singaporean household with both English and Chinese (Mandarin), I often wonder how can play be expressed in either languages, and if I can create a collaborative language (that uses both) to celebrate play. Drawing inspiration from the both English alphabets and Chinese characters, I intend to create a collection of 13 objects (half of the total 26, which aims to complete the entire ‘play’ alphabet) at the end of the project.

At its conclusion, this series of explorations will not only be a material investigation of forms and scales, but it will also be an reaffirmation of the visceral potential of languages.

Mabel Anabelle Tan is a Calgary-based artist from the Island City of Singapore. Her creative investigations involve aspects of humour, play, and spatial negotiation. She is currently working on a vocabulary of forms for exercising in her ever-growing Clayground. A graduated from AUarts (formerly the Alberta College of Art and Design) in Ceramics in 2017, she has held various solo and group shows, and participated in a Ceramics residency at Medalta, in Medicine Hat, Alberta. When not involved in clay-making, she keeps it real (with other forms of clay) while working as a Ceramic Production Artist at Peartree Impressions (Calgary), a Summer Studio Assistant at La Meridiana (Italy), or digging at Archaeological excavations in Italy and Singapore. Mabel continues to support her communities through volunteering and is part of the Elephant Artist Relief (EAR) board committee.