At the Enabling Lives Festival in December 2022, we held the “My Enabling Village Art Exhibition” where 20 art pieces from participating Social Service Agencies and SPED schools depicting impressions by persons with disabilities of the Enabling Village were displayed. Out of these 20 artworks, 3 of them were selected as winners. Read on to learn more about the artists and their winning art piece.
Ong Xin Min, 24, Artist at MINDS Employment Development Centre
My Enabling Village, digital print
Starting to draw at the age of seven, Xin Min’s artistry has progressed from simple drawings to meaningful, intricate illustrations. Her first artwork of a Tom and Jerry cartoon was taught by her father and brother, two individuals she looks up to.
With a knack for capturing and translating the world around her onto paper, Xin Min’s artwork depicts many of Enabling Village’s features such as caregivers, inclusive shopping carts in NTUC Fairprice. It also captures the beautiful gardens that she sees when she walks through the pathways at Enabling Village.
Although she faces challenges in perspective drawing, her patience and determination to learn from her weakness is truly inspiring. At MINDS Craft, she learnt how to draw fine strokes of hair through softening her stroke. From Pokémon to fashion, food and drinks, Xin Min aspires to become an animator one day. An avid follower of Pokemon, she loves many of the characters and is torn on choosing a favourite.
Her most memorable work was collaborating with MINDS Craft to draw for the National Day Parade tote bag in 2022, which allowed her to showcase her love for Singapore and artistic talent, leaving a lasting impression on us all. Read more about her work here.
Xin Min is a dedicated and focused individual who never gives up on her dreams. She hopes for more people to understand through hard work and perseverance, they can overcome all difficulties and have success.
Khairul Safari bin Razali, 18, Artist at Rainbow Centre Artability
Essence of Enabling Village, acrylic on canvas
Khairul Safari Bin Razali, the heart and hands behind the artwork “Essence of Enabling Village”, is an artist at Rainbow Centre’s Artability programme whose passion lies in using his imagination to create art for people to enjoy. Since joining the programme in 2020, he has developed new art techniques such as layering, colour blending and tracing.
Khairul is a hardworking and devoted artist. Tackling challenges and solving problems on his own allows him to learn and become a better artist every day. He enjoys the challenge of adding the right ratio of water to paint to achieve the perfect consistency for his works.
“Essence of Enabling Village”, Khairul’s most challenging yet significant artwork is a creative and abstract mash-up of the village’s unique architecture and luscious greenery. He combines multiple art techniques he learnt in the programme such as stencilling, mixed media and collage to create this winning art piece. Much of the symbolism in his artwork is his representation of how men and nature can co-exist together in peace.
Upon hearing the news of his winning, he shared “I felt amazed. I did not expect to win at all. When my teacher told me that I had won, I could hear my heart beating very fast because I was happy and excited. I feel that I have achieved something in my life. It feels like stepping up to another level of achievement.”
Chawaphon Phungnoi, 16, Artist from Eden School
My Art Village, acrylic on canvas
Chawaphon Phungnoi shows his love for Enabling Village in his art piece, “My Art Village” where he features his favourite activity, attending art lessons at Enabling Village.
Chawaphon loves drawing maps of various countries since young and has further developed his skills when he attended the Eden Talent Development Programme (Visual Arts) in 2018. There, he learnt new painting techniques from professional artists. He and his family are extremely proud to have been involved in the art exhibition. He further shares his sentiments on winning the contest, “I won a prize and I made my mummy happy”
His artwork prominently shows a large tree that symbolises the iconic trees at the village’s Outdoor Amphitheatre in the Playground Block. It is inspired by his favourite activity, creating and learning art with his friends during his lessons at the village. Chawaphon impressively captures the details of these enjoyable art lessons, such as his friends with their artworks. He also captures his art teacher in pink, which he looks up to for inspiration.
Reach out to us on imablecollective.sg for collaborations with our artists.
