Mixed media, 2026
Tay Xue Ling Cherie
Bukit View Primary School
This piece began as a play project with the artist’s 7-year-old son. Framed as an experimental exercise of taking control and letting go, she set out to loosen her hold on outcome and control. She worked alongside with her son to build small shelters for seeds out of materials meant to protect. In the careful acts of covering and securing the seed, the artist became aware of how closely this gesture echoed her own instinct to shield her child from every possible element.
What began as play carried a quiet tension. Throughout the banter, words escaped her breath before she could stop them. She feels the aches of her fears, disguised as love, quietly finding their way into him.
What if he makes a mess?
What if he ruins the work?
What if he never learns to listen to directions?
What if he is not able to do it?
What if lives in the space between doing and not doing, between a mother’s urge to protect and the courage to let go. The work holds the artist in the act of noticing—caught between control and release, between intention and impact—where restraint, trust, and letting go remain unfinished work.
What surprised you when you allowed yourself to start with play?
When I started with play, I discovered that my inner stories unfold, weaving through my work and revealing parts of myself I’ve yet to meet.
What is one play hack you would like to share to help fellow teacher-artists experiment and create without expectations?
One play hack I would like to share is to let curiosity lead. Begin without a fixed outcome, and allow the art to gradually emerge.
Click here to view the artists’ process!
Read more about ►EDGE 2026 and the existing artworks.
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