In one illustration, a slime-covered shark with jet engines on its fins swims through a tangle of video game cables and old brick cell phones. In another, flowers with fanged petals wrap their stems around a pair of faded blue jeans. One more features floating ketchup and mustard bottles, Chuck Norris as a merman with hair dryers in both hands, plus an array of other surreal elements, all of which are sandwiched between two giant hamburger buns.
在一幅插画中，一只涂满粘液、鳍上装着喷气发动机的鲨鱼正游走于一堆视频游戏电缆和旧式的砖手机中；在另一幅插画里，褪色的蓝色牛仔裤上，画着露出尖牙的花朵；还有一幅，番茄酱和芥末酱的瓶子成为了主角，动作片演员查克·诺里斯（Chuck Norris）变成一条手拿吹风机的人鱼，和其它超现实元素一起，夹在两块巨大的汉堡面包之间，变成了一个巨型汉堡包。
These are the imaginings of Singaporean artist Adeline Tan. Her work—a mixture of illustration, commissioned murals, and personal painting—take on various roles and purposes. “Art is comforting, it helps me manage negative emotions,” she explains. “As a Singaporean child growing up in the ‘80s, there was a lot of pressure to perform academically. Children find ways to cope, and for me, it was drawing. My parents quickly discouraged me, of course.”
这些插画来自于新加坡艺术家 Adeline Tan 的想象世界。她的作品包括插画、委托创作的涂鸦作品和个人绘画作品等等，类型和用途都十分丰富。“艺术有抚慰人心的作用，它可以帮我控制一些负面的情绪。”她解释道，“作为一个生活在 80 年代新加坡的小孩，在学业上常常要承受很大的压力。每个小孩都有自己的排压方法，对我而言，画画就是我排压的方式。当然，我的父母很快泼我冷水了。”
What began as a creative outlet quickly grew to become her passion. She worked for years as a graphic designer, during which she struggled to find time for creating personal works. 2013, when Tan gave birth to her little boy, was a pivotal year for her. “I quit my day job to become a mother and focused more on painting and drawing as it had more flexibility than the long hours of a designer,” she says. “From there, I created a lot more personal work and self-initiated projects.”
这种最初用来排解压力的爱好很快变成为了她的热情。在担任平面设计师的多年期间，她总是想办法抽出时间创作个人作品。2013年，Adeline 生下儿子，对她来说，这是关键的一年。她说：“我辞去了全职工作，成为全职妈妈，也因此可以更专注于画画，比起当全职设计师那种长时间工作，现在我在时间上可以更加灵活。从那时起，我就创作了越来越多的个人作品和项目。”
While Tan’s output is diverse, having a child definitely had an impact on the subject matters she works with. “After my son was born, I began exploring themes like an imagined future of our natural environment, family history, and nightmares,” things that her family deals with and that her son may have to as an adult. “I’ve also taken up more children- and education-related projects. One collaborator I especially love is EYEYAH Magazine.” An example of the work she does with them is her piece on mutant E-waste, and how toxic products end up in the ocean and other places.
虽然 Adeline 的作品类型多样，但是小孩的出生肯定会对她的作品主题有所影响。“儿子出生后，我开始探索一些新的主题，譬如是构想自然环境的未来、家族历史和梦魇等等。”大多是以她的家人以及她的儿子将来成年后不得不面对的问题为主题。“我还开始创作更多与儿童和教育有关的项目。我特别喜欢和 EYEYAH Magazine 杂志合作。”他们曾合作一个关于突变电子废物，以及有毒产品污染海洋和其它地方的项目。
While she does lots of digital work, her favorite medium is painting. Often, that includes watercolors of plants with copious stems entangled in her trademark style. Tan also does a lot of mural work, something the artist began exploring a couple years ago. “I find that the difficulty faced when trying out a new format or medium or size is also exciting in the sense that I get to learn something new,” she says. “You are forced to look at the work in a different way, forced to use different brushes or tools from those you are comfortable with.”
虽然她创作了大量的数码作品，但她最喜欢的媒介依然是绘画。水彩绘画的花卉与相互缠绕的花茎是她的标志性元素。除此之外，从几年前起，她开始探索创作壁画作品。她说：“我发现，在尝试新的形式、媒介或创作不同大小尺寸的作品时，我会遇到的困难，同时也会感到兴奋，因为这意味着我可以学到新的东西。我必须要以不同的方式看待这项工作，抛掉过去用习惯的工具，去尝试不同的画刷或工具。”
The most recent mural she worked on was a collaboration with 32 other artists. Organized by artist Skl0, their work was printed on a replica of the HBD government subsidized housing blocks that the majority of Singaporeans live in. Tan’s work included a three-story unit consisting of a monster floral pattern on the outside wall, with a yeti-like couple dancing inside the windows. She also worked with artist Tiffany Lovage to create a life-sized mural of a tiger in X-ray view, leaping among tiger lilies, with the stripes on its body formed by a pattern of mutant tiger orchids.
最近，她与其他 32 位艺术家合作创作一个壁画项目。这个项目由艺术家 Skl0 策划，他们在大多数新加坡人所居住的组屋（HDB，政府补贴的住宅区）的复制品上创作壁画。Adeline 的作品包括一个三层楼的单元，她在外墙上画了一个怪物花卉图案，又画了一对像大脚野人（Yeti）一样的情侣在窗户里跳舞的情景；她还与艺术家 Tiffany Lovage 画了一只X射线图的老虎。这只与原物一样大小小的老虎正从虎百合花丛中一跃而出，身上的条纹也突变成老虎兰花。
Her characteristically dense and comical works, with multiple objects thickly entangled with one another, lend themselves to a variety of outlets. But no matter how her work is presented—whether it be a stamp collection, an animated GIF, the painted fabric of a pair of pants and sneakers, or a children’s illustration—Tan’s style always feels like a perfect fit.
密集而有趣的画面，繁复的物体彼此纠缠在一起，这是她作品的标志性风格，这样的插画适合制作成各种各样的创意作品。无论是邮票、视频投影 GIF、裤子和运动鞋上的彩绘，还是儿童插画，Adeline 的作品总会让人有一种亲切感。
