Singaporean Melissa Tan maps out 'geo-poet' route in creating art

Tan's art is closely tied to mapping, landscapes, cartography and geographical musings. Her work 'The Shape Of Things To Come' (acrylic on watercolor, paper, compressed foam, Asphaltum lacquer and resin, 2018) is one of the highlights at her solo Malaysian debut in KL. Photo: The Star/Low Boon Tat

Singaporean artist Melissa Tan isn't kidding when she hints that her country is built from almost nothing, quite literally. The island nation creates land to call its own, methodically stitching together material obtained from elsewhere as an extension of itself.

And when things threaten to fall apart, they are patched up as efficiently as only the island country can do.