Present Tense is a new creative platform to amplify emerging voices in contemporary illustration. Organised by Singapore Art Museum (SAM), it embraces illustration as a vehicle for the social, cultural and creative concerns of young people today.
This inaugural edition brings together four local illustrators—Tororo.aoi, Shian, Yeowcarrot and Birkbushka—to respond to ideas of change and transition. It is inspired by SAM’s new collection exhibition The Present is Unstable, where artworks will be brought in and out over time, allowing new relationships and meanings to emerge.
Drawing from personal experiences, local histories and the realities of contemporary life, the four illustrators reflect on the complex emotions that change brings: from uncertainty and instability, to hope and possibility.
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Mapletree Investments is a proud supporter of Present Tense, as part of its commitment under the Arts pillar of its Corporate Social Responsibility Framework to foster community storytelling through art.
In contemplating the complexities of adulthood, Yeowcarrot creates a dreamlike scene out of items that have remained a steady presence in her life, a flourishing oasis populated by characters and objects both recognisable and fantastical. As a recreational daily milk drinker since birth, she has placed an opulent fountain of milk and cereal at the centre of this imaginary world. By weaving together these connections with her younger self, this work becomes a place for the artist to rediscover her carefree spirit.
About the Artist
Yeowcarrot (@yeowcarrot) is a Singapore-based illustrator who believes that fact is often stranger than fiction. Inspired by the New Weird literary genre, she draws the fantasies observed in the little nooks of real life by exaggerating their peculiarities in vivid detail.
ShianThe Inventory of a Tide
About the Work
This work treats the ocean as both a living system and a symbol of relentless transition. A figure is surrounded by debris and trash, treading the disturbed waters just enough to stay afloat. The waves already bring constant change that the figure must navigate, but pollution turns this into an unequal struggle. Still, life persists: small sprites are scattered through the scene like fragments of imagination. They suggest the ways we continue to cling to wonder, community and myth, even when modern systems profit from extraction and neglect.
About the Artist
Shian (@shiaaaan) is an independent illustrator and designer based in Singapore who has been making and printing pictures for ten years. She delights in turning the ordinary sideways until it winks, drawing from her visual library of embroidered tapestries, cathedral gargoyles, deep sea oddities, and every charmingly peculiar thing in between. Her client and collaborator credits include Samsung, Disney, Apple, Metallica, Dave Matthews Band, Queens of the Stone Age and Weird Al Yankovic.
BirkbushkaTender Roots, Bright Blossoms
About the Work
Tender Roots, Bright Blossoms explores the relationship between the past and present through an imaginary botanical world. At its centre, a young gardener tends to an abundance of flora: the past, represented by floral forms from a forgotten age, lives quietly in the roots, while the present bursts forth in a vibrant glow, full of hope and prosperity. Rather than existing in opposition, both directions of time intertwine to sustain one another, reflecting how we should cherish them equally to truly embrace our entirety.
About the Artist
Birkbushka (@birkbushka) is a Singaporean illustrator known for her colourful, whimsical universes. Drawing from a lifelong fascination with nature, her work is populated by curious critters, funky flora, and playful characters, creating fantastical dioramas that spark wonder and curiosity. Through the power of visual narratives, Birkbushka invites her audience to look more closely at the ordinary and discover the magic hidden within the everyday.
Tororo.aoiA Tidal Almanac
About the Work
Singapore has been an important maritime trading centre since at least the 14th century, when it was still known as Temasek. By connecting us to the world, the sea—and the vessels that sail upon it—has been the cornerstone of both our financial wealth and cultural richness, central in both our legends and livelihoods. This work composes a faux almanac anchored by the sea’s mythologies, reflecting on how it has remained constant in our history, while also bringing all the changes that this island has experienced.
About the Artist
Tororo.aoi (@tororo.aoi) is a freelance illustrator, writer and mythology nerd based in Singapore. A lover of eyes, impossible biology and tales of metamorphosis and transformation, she is inspired by the stories people tell and the way these stories continue to be held in the consciousness of a people. Her design for Amanda Lee Koe's Sister Snake won Best Cover Design at the 2025 Singapore Book Awards. Her clients include Sentosa, HeritageSG and independent music artists.
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