Opening Reception, Garden City

Venue: INSTINC Space, 39 Keppel Rd, #03-10 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore 089065

Opening Reception: 22 October 2025 (Wed.) 5:30PM–8:30PM

Exhibition Duration: 23 October to 2 November 2025 (Wed-Fri, 1PM-7PM. Sat - Sun, 1PM-6PM)

Artist Talk: 25 October 2025 (Sat.) 3:00PM-4:00PM

For more than fifteen years, Singapore has been a source of lasting inspiration for Alba Escayo. Its rapid transformation from a small fishing village to a global city is a story that continues to resonate with her own practice. The presence of the coast, the memory of the sea, and the traces of everyday life form a subtle undercurrent in her work.

Garden City reflects on how cities both grow and remember—how fragments of the past survive within landscapes of continuous change. Escayo often turns to old postcards, photographs, and archival images, using them as materials and points of departure. By bringing these remnants into her pieces, she creates new layers where memory and imagination overlap.

The exhibition unfolds as a constellation of paintings, collages, and small objects. Instead of a single monumental work, these fragments gather into an expansive wall composition, inviting viewers to drift among shifting colours and gestures, much like wandering through the city itself.

The title recalls Singapore’s early vision of a “garden city.” Here, it becomes less a description than a metaphor: a place where memory breathes within growth, and where nature and the built world exist in quiet dialogue.

About Artist

Alba Escayo

Alba Escayo (b. 1981, Asturias, Spain) is a contemporary artist whose work explores memory and the dialogue between nature and the city. Educated in Bologna, Madrid, and Belgrade, she has developed an international practice shaped by residencies and exhibitions across Europe and Asia.

Through a poetic abstraction of layered marks and fragments, Escayo reflects on memory and transformation. Her works move between presence and absence, suggesting the shifting dialogue between nature and human environments.

She is currently based in Madrid, where her work continues to explore the intersections of memory, nature, and the urban landscape.

About INSTINC Space

Founded in 2004 by artist Yeo Shih Yun, INSTINC is a leading artist-run institution based in Singapore. With a distinguished presence in the arts ecosystem, INSTINC diligently sustains the growth of contemporary art through exhibitions, residency programs and curations. Their esteemed Artist-in-Residence program has cultivated invaluable regional and international networks since 2009. INSTINC is celebrated for producing immersive, large-scale exhibitions that encompass installation, new media, performance, painting and sculpture, showcasing the diverse range of artistic expressions.

Notable collaborations include partnerships with renowned brands such as Volvo and Guinness, further demonstrating INSTINC's commitment to fostering cross-disciplinary exchanges. Moreover, INSTINC takes immense pride in organising the highly anticipated INSTINC D:Art Festival 2022, generously supported by UOB Bank and the NAC start fund.

INSTINC continues to foster creative individuals and collective practitioners by establishing a platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges with their relocation in Tanjong Pagar Distripark. With expertise in exhibition curation, commissioned works and brand alliances, INSTINC endeavours as a vital presence in the cultivation of contemporary art.