Wei Keong Tan is a designer and artist whose ceramic practice explores the complex relationship between human control and the natural world. Born in Singapore and now based in Gloucestershire, Tan brings together an early background in product and industrial design, architectural lighting and fine art ceramics to create work shaped by both precision and instinct.
Growing up in Singapore, a tropical city where nature is often carefully managed and designed, Tan developed an early awareness of the ways in which human environments can appear natural while remaining highly controlled. Travelling through Europe in his mid-twenties brought him into contact with a more expansive, unpredictable experience of landscape, deepening his interest in the contrast between cultivated surroundings and nature in its raw, untamed state.
In this online Q&A, Tan reflects on the ideas that inform his work, the influence of design on his artistic process, and his ongoing fascination with the tension between the manufactured and the organic. His practice offers a considered response to a post-naturalistic world, asking how we might reconnect with forms of nature that resist explanation, order and control.
\Are you self-taught, or did you undertake formal artistic training?
Art was never something that was encouraged or spoken about when I was growing up. However, as a child, I enjoyed drawing, mainly doodling manga cartoons. Upon completing my high school education, I decided to study product design in Singapore.
After graduating in 2003, I started working in an architectural lighting studio, but felt the need to do something with my hands. I enrolled in a weekend pottery course and fell in love with the medium, subsequently studying Ceramics in Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.
How would you define your visual language or conceptual approach?
I’m not sure I have a visual language. I feel that every project needs a different approach. Much like life, art can’t simply be categorised or defined by labels.
Can you describe your creative process from conception to completion?
Reading is often the starting point for a new project. Articles, essays and books spark my imagination and encourage me to look more deeply into a particular issue and develop an interpretation of it. From there, I search for visuals and objects that can translate those thoughts into finished works.
Does narrative, symbolism or storytelling play a role within your work?
Yes, narrative plays a very important part in my artistic research. The starting point of my work is always through research articles and stories. I then start to think about how I can reflect the findings artistically in my artworks, in this case sculptural ceramic object forms. I guess, with my product design background, I inevitably reference functional forms, in whichever shape they appear.
Which artists have most influenced you historically or contemporarily, and why?
As a clay artist, I do not draw much inspiration from other ceramicists. Instead, I am more influenced by artists working in other mediums, as well as by writers and thinkers. I was introduced to the works and philosophy of herman de vries by my fellow peers at the Rietveld Academie, and that inspired my explorative journey between nature, the realities of the world, the human condition and science. Then, in 2019, I went to Tate Modern to see the retrospective works of Olafur Eliasson, whose research-driven explorations of nature and art installations truly fascinated me.
A few books have stayed with me in particular, including Thought as a System by David Bohm and the Madd Addam trilogy by Margaret Atwood. At the moment, I am also very interested in the work of Atmos, a nonprofit media organisation focused on the cross-pollination of climate and culture, delivering award-winning journalism and creative storytelling through a print magazine, digital features, original newsletters, podcasts and more.
What personal, cultural or environmental influences shape your practice?
Growing up, I watched a lot of cartoons, mostly from Japan, and found the whole manga universe fascinating and very freeing. This encouraged my free, boundless thinking and general approach to art. My latest project, Genetically Engineered Pots, is inspired by this universe.
Where is your studio based, and how does the space inform your creativity?
I am currently based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, where I work in a rather modest studio space on the top floor of an old building in the centre of town. My studio is basically a place where I shut out all distractions, or at least try to, from the outside environment. The interesting part about Stroud is its surrounding valleys and landscapes, offering lots of hiking experiences.
Do you have any rituals or rhythms that anchor your studio practice?
I am an early bird, and so I usually start my day before 8am. That is when I find myself most productive for the first two to three hours. It usually sets the tempo for my day.
What bodies of work or projects are you currently developing?
I am currently developing an ongoing project titled Genetically Engineered Pots, which examines the duality of the human desire to control nature. In the context of the climate crisis, biotechnology is increasingly being called upon to address urgent challenges such as rising temperatures, extreme weather, deforestation and poor harvests. While advances in bioengineering offer remarkable possibilities for responding to these problems, they also raise important ethical and moral questions.
In this body of work, I use basic ceramic pots as “test subjects” in a speculative experiment that responds to issues raised by the climate crisis.
The series draws on the scientific language of bioengineering and DNA editing, imagining ceramic forms that have been altered or enhanced to meet specific needs. This playful approach allows me to explore ideas of efficiency, defence, sustainability and tolerance through sculptural objects.
Through these experiments, I hope to challenge how we perceive the nature around us, and to question the assumptions behind our efforts and attempts to reshape it.
Where can collectors encounter or acquire your work?
I am still at the start of my artistic career. I had previously taken a two-year hiatus to reflect on my development journey, and now I am in the midst of reaching out to galleries to show my work, trying to break into the art scene outside Stroud and hopefully into London and beyond. I will be participating in an event, Potfest SW in Shaftesbury, Dorset, during the first weekend of July. Then, of course, in September, FLUX Exhibition. From there, we’ll see where it leads me.
Website: www.ateliertan.com
Instagram: @w31keong
