Artistic Zeitgeist

Remember these names: Farizwan Fajari, Ruben Pang, Ashley Yeo. Three of Singapore’s most dynamic young artists reveal how they are pushing boundaries in their art practice and create exclusive self‑portraits for Tatler Singapore this month

- Karen Tee

Transcending Borders

As one of Singapore's first NFT artists, Farizwan Fajari, aka Speak Cryptic, is carving out his own space in the realm of digital art

For Farizwan Fajari, the artist better known as Speak Cryptic, creating NFTs can be seen as a natural extension of his street art background.

“The reason why people do street art is because they are sick and tired of waiting around and not having galleries to show their work. My thinking as an artist has always been about how I can show my work and expand my practice so it is accessible to more people,” says Farizwan.

The contemporary artist, who is known for his complex black‑and‑white illustrated murals, often addresses themes of identity in his work. For instance, his most recent installation, The Same Side of the Moon Always Faces Earth, which was shown at the Light to Night Festival in conjunction with Singapore Art Week, is inspired by stories of the migrants and seafarers of yore who came to Singapore.

“I’ve been consistently recording my thoughts in a journal, not by writing but by presenting them in a visual format,” he shares. “I’ve noticed that the running theme is identity, which also appears in my work. In recent years, I’ve also been exploring the human experience by using myself as the catalyst.”

He became “crypto curious” last February when he discovered that non‑fungible tokens (NFTs) could be displayed and sold online, hence bypassing the typical structure of showing work in galleries. “At that time, it wasn’t about the money because it was ‘electronic money’. I was fascinated about showing my work to a new audience,” he says.