Divaagar

Singaporean artist negotiating queer spaces
By Ian Tee

Divaagar, 'The Soul Lounge', 2017-18, installation and performance venue. Image courtesy of the artist.

Born in Singapore in 1992, Divaagar's practice explores the relationships between desires and spaces. Working at the intersection of bodies, identities and environments, he engages with methods of display and performance to propose alternative economies and ecologies. Diva graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2018 and has had two solo presentations: 'Between a rock and a hard place' (2018), as part of a Summer residency in Untitled Space, Shanghai, and 'The Soul Lounge' (2018) at soft/WALL/studs, Singapore. Other notable exhibitions include: 'Space Oddities' (2019), 'From Your Eyes to Ours' (2019) and 'Repel/ Revel' (2019).

Divaagar, 'Ideal Homes II', 2018, installation view in the group exhibition 'Not the Norm: On Conjugal Blisses and Misses' (2018) in Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore. Image courtesy of the artist.

Divaagar, 'Ideal Homes IV', 2019, furniture, found objects and fabric, dimensions variable. Image courtesy of the artist.

Diva's installations evince a keen understanding of how bodies are framed and perceived in spaces, and works to reframe these relationships. Interior design and performance come together in works such as 'The Soul Lounge' (2017-18). Named in honour of the R&B singer and visual artist Solange Piaget, it functions as a gathering venue for marginal brown and queer communities. The intimate space is activated through a series of performances, programmes and parties. 

Another series 'Ideal Homes' explore ideas of home and queer experiences navigating rigid public housing systems. Using discarded furniture and objects, Diva constructs situations that reflect different ways of living, from the private domains of a teenager's room to survival home-kits that can be easily packed away. 'Idea Homes II' (2018) features a wall bisecting a couple's bed in the middle of a master bedroom, a symbol of external forces regulating personal behaviour and desires. Diva's immersive installations emit a sense of ennui and melancholy, whilst expressing a desire for comfort in spaces.

Click here to read our conversation with Divaagar, where he speaks about the importance of having different sources of income, dealing with rejection and creating queer sites.