{{Short description|Singaporean contemporary artist}} {{use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox artist | bgcolour = | name = Tay Bee Aye<br>(郑美爱) | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|02|28}} | birth_place = Singapore | death_date = | death_place = | field = Installation art | training = LASALLE College of the Arts | movement = | works = | patrons = | influenced by = | influenced = | awards = Honorable Mention, Philip Morris Singapore Art Award<br>Commendation Award, Singapore Power Ltd Art Competition }} '''Tay Bee Aye''' ({{lang-zh|s=郑美爱|p= Zhèng Měiài}}) is a multidisciplinary Singaporean contemporary artist known for her soft sculptures and interactive installations.<ref name="rewards">{{citation|last=Wong|first=Chris|title=My rewards as an artist|newspaper=Bridge|issue=Jan-Feb 2011|pages=10|location=Singapore|publisher=Southwest CDC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016|title=Ties That Bind – Community Art by Tay Bee Aye and residents of Jurong|url=https://www.arthop.co/events/ties-that-bind|access-date=1 November 2021|website=Arthop}}</ref> She has done pioneering work in interactive contemporary art for children in Singapore,<ref>{{Cite web|title=STEP INTO THE WORLD OF CHILDREN'S SEASON 2011 WITH A KALEIDOSCOPE OF DREAMS|url=https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/20110525003/media_advisory_-_children%27s_season_2011_and_invitation_to_launch_event.pdf}}</ref> with her practice expanding to include community involvement.<ref name="rewards" /> She has exhibited at numerous art festivals and events, including the Singapore Biennale 2013.
== Education and personal life == Born the third of seven children, Tay initially could not afford an art education, first working to support her family after finishing her Cambridge GCE O Level Examinations.<ref name="rewards" /> Only during her career did she have opportunities to travel internationally.<ref name="rewards" /> In 1997, Tay quit her job as an accounts executive to study art full-time at LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, under the Georgette Chen Art Scholarship funded by the college.<ref name="rewards" />
== Career == By the time Tay graduated in 1999, she had participated in several arts activities and festivals, such as the 2000 and 2004 Art Festival projects at Clifford Pier for ''Tracking Time'', as well as the exhibition, ''Reconstruction of a City'', at St James Power Station. In 1998, Tay received a Commendation Award at the Singapore Power Ltd Art Competition, and in 1999 and 2002, two Honorable Mentions at the Philip Morris Singapore Art Award.
In 2002, her installation of 600 small, handcrafted lip-shaped fabric cushions were on display at the atrium of Suntec City, as part of the Nokia Singapore Art 2001 exhibition. The installation was well-received, though with many of the small cushions being stolen by the public during the exhibition period.<ref name="vanishing">{{cite news|last=Shzr Ee|first=Tan|date=2002-01-14|title=Vanishing art|page=3|publisher=Straits Times Life!}}</ref> In Tay's series, ''Her World'', featured in her second solo exhibition in 2005, Tay critiques the representations of women in media produced by the fashion and beauty industry.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chew|first=David|date=7 January 2005|title=Slaves to beauty|pages=33|newspaper=Today|publisher=Mediacorp|location=Singapore}}</ref> Her sculpture, ''Caterpillar'', was a 15-metre long and 2.3-metre high steel sculpture lined with 30 poster boxes; commissioned under a partnership programme between National Arts Council and City Developments Ltd. Tay emphasises the presence of caterpillars as indicators of environmental degradation, with sightings more uncommon due to urbanisation.<ref>{{cite press release|title=New caterpillar sculpture at City Square Mall|publisher=Red Dawn Communications|date=24 January 2011|url=http://www.reddawncommunications.com/blog/2011/01/new-caterpillar-sculpture-at-city-square-mall%E2%80%99s-urban-park|access-date=3 April 2011}}</ref>
In 2013, Tay's installation ''Knot, Play, Rest'' was featured in the 2013 Singapore Biennale.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shetty|first=Deepika|date=15 October 2013|title=Art for the People|page=C8|publisher=Straits Times}}</ref> It encouraged people to come together to "meet, communicate and play", in a fabric rope playground of the artist's construction.
At the 2013 Committee of Supply Debate at the Parliament, her work with the Asian Women's Welfare Association (AWWA) received mention at a speech delivered by Acting Minister Lawrence Wong.<ref>{{cite press release|title =Speech By Acting Minister Lawrence Wong At The 2013 Committee Of Supply Debate On The Ministry Of Culture, Community & Youth (Part I)|publisher =Ministry Of Culture, Community & Youth|date =Mar 15, 2013|url =http://app.mccy.gov.sg/Newsroom/SpeechActingMinisterPartI.aspx|access-date =Mar 16, 2013|url-status =dead|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20131012140528/http://app.mccy.gov.sg/Newsroom/SpeechActingMinisterPartI.aspx|archive-date =October 12, 2013}}</ref>
==Major exhibitions== <!--Please arrange chronologically.-->
{| class="wikitable" |- !width=24%|Dates !width=50%|Title !width=30%|Location |- |align=center|Jan 2005 |'''Her World''' |Utterly Art<br>Singapore |- |align=center|Apr 29{{snd}}May 25, 2005 |'''Now & Then''' |Instinc Gallery<br>Singapore |- |align=center|Sep 15{{snd}}Oct 6, 2007 |'''LIMITED / UNLIMITED: The 27th Anniversary Exhibition of the Printmaking Society Singapore''' |Tyler Print Institute<br>Singapore |- |align=center|Nov 20{{snd}}Nov 30, 2007 |'''Have you ever smell the rain''' |Forth Art Gallery<br>Singapore |- |align=center|Oct 26, 2013{{snd}}Feb 16, 2014 |'''Singapore Biennale 2013''' |Our Museum @ Taman Jurong<br>Singapore |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tay, Bee Aye}} Category:1958 births Category:Singaporean people of Chinese descent Category:Singaporean installation artists Category:Living people Category:Lasalle College of the Arts alumni