Ashley Yeo & Monica So-Young Moon
Ocean’s Room
2016
Mixed media installation
Dimensions variable
Collection of the Artists

An ambient melody merges the sounds of waves and traditional Chinese instruments whilst
painting a mysterious aural landscape. Sonorous and resounding, the competing masculine
and feminine overtures are evocative of contestation that arises in attempts to personify
seascapes. Elements of magical realism emerge as visitors are drawn into Ocean’s Room: a
hairpin fashioned in the style of Chinese hair pieces rests on a plinth while a pod of whales
hover above it, enraptured by the potential magic imbued within the hairpin. In two ink
paintings on rice paper shrouded in silken gauze, Ashley Yeo attempts to capture the
impalpable qualities of the ocean through subtle strokes and layered textures.
Ocean’s Dress, handcrafted by Monica So-Young Moon, stands opulently as the landmark
feature of the installation. Crafted from voluminous layers of silk, its design stands
emblematic of the traditional association of seas with femininity across numerous cultures
in Asia and beyond. Projected onto the dress, a digital rendering of a “whale fall” adds an
inter-media dimension to the installation. A phenomenon of particular interest to the artists,
the term refers to the process of decomposition of a whale’s body as it sinks to the abysmal
depths, forming and supporting complex and localised deep-sea ecosystems.
Ocean’s Room presents an assemblage of objects that attempt to consolidate and articulate
a possible unified personification of the sea. (Text by Singapore Art Museum)
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This artwork is a collaboration between Chelsea College of Art & Design (London) MA
graduates Ashley Yeo and Monica So-Young Moon. They have been working as an artist duo
since 2015. Ashley Yeo has been the recipient of the LASALLE Award of Academic Excellence
(2011), Winston Oh Travel Award (2010) and NAC Scholarship (Local) (2010). In 2007,
Monica So-Young Moon received the Queensland Education Minister’s Award for Excellence
in Art, her work exhibited at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Australia.