Here’s a new bit of arm candy to sport this summer – one that comes with a gorgeous hint of proper, proud Asian influence too. The timepiece in question is the newest Swatch Art Peach Hotel Special, a beautiful oriental collaboration between Swatch and Singapore’s very own Yi Lin Juliana “Juls” Ong, an artist-in-residence at the Hotel. The renowned art hotel is located on the Bund in Shanghai, and, upon application, welcomes and houses artists from all around the world to live and work in Shanghai.
The Juls At Swatch Art Peace Hotel (SUOZ217), then, marks the first release of a Swatch Art Peace Hotel Special created by an artist who has lived and worked as an artist-in-residence at the hotel – and the first collab between Swatch and a Singaporean, of course. Juls brings to the table her distinct Chinese heritage with a striking red and blue colour motif set against white – very evocative of traditional oriental chinaware. Yet, the highlight of the timepiece has to be the intricate faces and figures adorning it – part of the vibrant community she created during her time at the hotel, and inspired by the comic faces found on Chinese artifacts. Among Juls’s “strange characters”, you’ll surely recognise the iconic fat lady prints on the silicone strap; who remind us an awful lot of a certain plump matchmaker in Mulan.
And while you still can, drop by the Swatch store in Marina Bay Sands, which has been transformed into an art exhibition space curated to reflect Juls’s atelier at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. It documents her experiences whilst in residence at the hotel, and even features a replica of her original workspace, silk screens and her prints. It’s another one for the books for our homegrown talents; which is always cause for celebration.
JULS Exhibit
Date: 9 to 30 June 2016
Venue: Swatch at Marina Bay Sands #B2-105
Juls At Swatch Art Peace Hotel (SUOZ217) (SUOZ217), $103, available at Swatch boutiques.
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