Join us for the book launch and informal 'opening' of Microscopic Images from 3pm – 5pm. There will be no presentation or talk of any sort but both Loh Xiang Yun and Temporary Press (gideon-jamie) will be there and can share more about the work they do, the processes behind this work, and a little about the space.

Due to current restrictions, there can only be 2 groups of 2 within the (15sqm) exhibition space at any time. To better manage this, we are staggering the visits in groups of 5 between 3 to 5pm. (See available time slots) We also accept walk-ins within this timing but priority will be given those who signed up. There is a larger work area beside the exhibition space that can hold waiting visitors.

The exhibition is open from 1pm – 5pm on 22 May 2021. Signing up is not required for those planning to visit before 3pm.

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Date and time of opening/launch:

Sat, 22 May, 3 – 5pm

Exhibition opens from 22 May – 19 June

Opening hours:

Saturdays 1 – 5pm

Tues–Fri by appointment only, please contact work@gideon-jamie.com (subjected to availability)

About Microscopic Images

Since 2018, Loh Xiang Yun has started working as a scientific botanical illustrator for Singapore Botanic Gardens, where she made and studied microscopic images of primarily dried or alcohol-preserved herbarium specimens to draft pen-and-ink illustrations for scientific publications. The entire process could be described as one that taps on processes and ways of thinking in design since the development from photographs to drawing is not a direct “translation". It requires handling and dissecting of specimens, planning and arranging compositions, and certain reproduction considerations.

The book Microscopic Images explores and re-examines the inherent qualities of this incidental process and its photographic “by-products”—of which has amassed into a large collection—and presents them in a way that considers how they were originally perceived and used in the artist’s work, only now for general viewers and without any practical intention.

The accompanying exhibition explores and presents the same photographic materials in a similar but extended manner—it translates the processes and experiences of the artist through broader representations and recalls otherwise unnoticed qualities and possibilities of these photographs that may be obscured by its original, instrumental purpose.

About the artist:

Loh Xiang Yun is an artist and scientific botanical illustrator who lives and works in Singapore. Her work interrogates how people relate to nature. Using her observations made through drawing, painting, and photography, she examines the everyday to study how nature is managed and engineered in our cities. Through durational projects that map and document plants in our surroundings, she charts the changing ways we see and define nature.

In 2018, she began her professional career as a scientific botanical illustrator, producing work for Singapore Botanic Gardens. Her drawings were included in scientific publications such as floras, monographs, and new species descriptions primarily using dried and alcohol-preserved herbarium specimens. She is currently contributing illustrations to the 10-year project ‘Flora of Singapore’ spearheaded by the Singapore Botanic Gardens under the National Parks Board (NParks). It aims to catalogue and describe all the plant species that can be found in Singapore, from mosses to flowering plants.

About Temporary Unit:

Temporary Unit is a space for small exhibitions and workshops run by or with gideon-jamie / Temporary Press. It is also the studio where they work, make and build things, and run a makeshift shop.