Originally from Belgium, Laurence Vandenborre is the Founder and Managing Director of The Red Pencil, an international arts therapy humanitarian foundation whose mission is to bring the benefits of arts therapy to children, adults and families on their pathway to well-being, with a particular attention to those facing overwhelming life circumstances, such as natural disasters, conflict zones, long-term hospitalisations, human trafficking and abuses.

Laurence is a registered arts therapist, with a background in professional counselling and life coaching. She served as a Board Director of Very Special Arts, Singapore, and is a member of The Art Therapy Association of Singapore and The Australian and New Zealand Art Therapy Association. Laurence holds a Master of Arts in Germanic Philology from the University of Louvain la Neuve in Belgium and a Master Degree in Art Therapy from Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore.

We were very fortunate to get the opportunity to speak to such an inspiring woman and learn about the great work that her charity is doing around the globe.  Read our interview below.

Suzann Victor is best known for compelling public artworks and installations that investigate, present and challenge ideas of disembodiment, the post-colonial and the environmental in response to space, context and architecture. Shown widely on the international circuit, her works have gained critical attention at events such as the 6th Havana Biennale (Cuba), 49th Venice Biennale (Italy), 2nd Asia-Pacific Triennial (Australia), 6th Gwangju Biennale (Korea), 5th Seoul International Media Art Biennale (Korea), ZKM’s Thermocline of Art 2007 (Germany) and OÖ Kulturquartier’s Hohenrausch 2014 (Austria). Read our interview with her below…

Sean Tobin hails from Perth, West Australia but has worked in Singapore’s theatre and education landscapes since 1993. He is currently the Artistic Director of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival and has four instalments of the festival under his belt. Sean has also been Head of Theatre at School of the Arts (SOTA) for 10 years and he writes, directs, performs and teaches.

Prior to that, Sean was Associate Artistic Director with The Necessary Stage (2001-2004) and Associate Artistic Director with the now defunct TOUCH Arts (1996-2000). He was formerly Artistic Director of M1 Theatre Connect (2002-2004) and was also the Artistic Director for SOTA Arts Festival (2011) and SOTA’s 10th Anniversary celebration (2008) among others.  We are delighted to interview Sean as part of the 2019 edition of Singapore’s M1 Fringe Festival.

Joyce Loo’s love of clay began in 1998 but she didn’t start her creative career until 2008 when she gave up a lucrative job as a stock broker, to pursue her passion for the arts. She now works as a ceramic artist in her studio (and gallery) on the beautiful Wessex Estate in Singapore and has a deep affinity to nature and the earth, reflected in her clay sculptural forms. Joyce is a self-taught artist of great ingenuity and her works are a visual harmony of colour, texture and her appreciation for flora and fauna.

Since 2005, Joyce’s work has been represented in several local and international exhibitions in Japan, Turkey, New York, Taiwan, China and New Delhi, India.  Her first solo exhibitions, My Eden and Embrace were both held in Singapore. Joyce’s work has been bought and collected by museums in Singapore and China and by government agencies and corporate and private collectors.

After 6 years in the museum industry, Gwen Lee decided to pursue her first love; photography.  Since then she has tumbled down the rabbit hole into the Wonderland of silver halides. Along with friends Gwen established a biennale photo festival in 2008, now known as the Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF), an international platform in South East Asia.  In 2010, she was awarded for her contribution to the Singapore arts community by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Trade.

In 2014, Gwen created a brand new creative container art space, called DECK, to provide a platform and residency programme for photographers. DECK was awarded the President’s Design Award in 2015 in Singapore for its innovative design and impact on the arts community. Since 2008, Gwen has curated and organised over 45 photography exhibitions in Singapore and overseas.  On a regular basis she gives talks on professional development for photographers and participates as a jury and portfolio reviewer in Asia and Europe.