Curriculum vitae
Born: 1974, Singapore (Singaporean-Australian), works and resides between Whadjuk Country (Western Australia) and Singapore.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2027 The Gaze Enclosed (Working title), Western Australia, Australia (in development)
2024 Twisted Bodies Tell Their Tales, 2nd Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024, opening remarks by Jude van der Merwe OAM (Founding Partner, Co-
curator IOTA21-24), Mossenson Galleries, WA, supported by Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC)
2023 When These Roots Encounter Rocks, opening remarks by Milenko Prvački (Senior Fellow, LASALLE College), Art Seasons, Singapore
2019 Somewhere Too, opening remarks by Dr Oliver Krischer (Deputy Director of China Studies, University of Sydney), Art Atrium Gallery, NSW,
Somewhere, The Lobby, Swanbourne, WA, Australia
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Asia Pacific Now: Cleanse, curated by D. Mah, Western Australia, Australia (In Development, Aug)
Cry Now, curated by K. Liu, Prestige Gallery, Singapore (in development, 9 Jan - early Feb)
ART SG 2026: Futures, JW Projects, (23 – 25 Jan, in development)
2025 Indelible Marks, organised by T. Waigana, D. Mah, N. Ben-Dzulkefli, co-opening remarks by HE Allaster Cox (Australian High Commissioner to
Singapore) and Dr Ryan Su (Ryan Foundation), Art Seasons & Comma Space, Singapore, supported by the Department of Creative Industries,
Tourism and Sport (CITS, former DLGSC) & the Australian High Commission Singapore (19 Sept - 19 Oct)
The Other Singaporeans: Stories of Home and Identity, curated by D. Mah, JW PROJECTS, Singapore, supported by Art Galleries Association
Singapore (16 Aug – 19 Oct)
Life Rehearsals, curated by Na Rongkun, Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China (14 Jun – 22 Sept)
2024 The Paper trails between Lion and Swan Phase II, opening remarks by Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge, co-curate with Dr. H. See, CK Yeo, D. Mah,
ArtSource, Fremantle, Western Australia, supported by DLGSC, National Arts Council Singapore and ArtSource
DiaS’pora - Exploring Singapore’s Diasporic Ethos in the Art of Diaspora Artists, Art Seasons, Singapore (Singapore Art Week 2024, 12th Edition)
The Paper trails between Lion and Swan Phase I, opening remarks by H.E. Allaster Cox, Sculpture 2052 gallery, Singapore (SAW 2024),
supported by DLGSC
2023 (Re)Borrowing Arrows with Thatched Boats 草船借箭, opening remarks by the Hon Stephen Pratt MLC (South Metropolitan Region), curated by
D. Mah, Moores Building Contemporary Arts Space, WA, supported by DLGSC
HERENOW23: In-Between-ness, curated by Dr. H. See (Ted Snell), Spectrum Project Space, Edith Cowan University, WA, Australia, supported by
DLGSC
2022 ‘The Dutch Project’ Exhibition, selected exhibition, West End Art Space, VIC, Australia
2021 I am Not a Virus, commissioned group exhibition (web), Diversity Arts Australia, NSW, Australia
A Place We Call Home, group exhibition, Stala Contemporary, WA, Australia, supported by DLGSC
2020 Summer Sojourn, opening remarks by Joanna Capon OAM (Board Director of Museum of Chinese, Australia), group exhibition, Art Atrium,
NSW, Australia
SIX : 2020, opening remarks by the Hon. David Templeman MLA (Minister for the Arts), juried exhibition, Mossenson Galleries, WA
2019 Summer Sojourn, opening remarks by Jimmy Barnes AO, Art Atrium, group exhibition, NSW, Australia
Sydney Contemporary 2019, Art Atrium Booth, Carriageworks, NSW, Australia
Tangentcy, curated group exhibition by Fernando Mesquita, Austrian Embassy, Beijing, China
2018 Summer Sojourn, Art Atrium with Live in Art, NSW, Australia
Open Studio December, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China
Open Studio November, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China
No Waste Form 01, curated by Li Gang, ADGY International Cultural Center, Beijing, China
Transcendence, curated exhibition by Simon Chan, Art Atrium with Live in Art, NSW, Australia
Open Studio April, Bei Gao Studio, Beijing, China
Relay, curated group exhibition by Louella Hayes, Midland Junction Arts Centre, WA, Australia
2017 Summer Sojourn, group exhibition, Art Atrium, Bondi Junction, NSW, Australia
AWARDS & GRANTS
2025 Grant Recipient, Arts Projects for Groups Grant (Indelible Marks exhibition, Testament former name), DLGSC, WA
Finalist, Collie Art Prize 2025, Collie Art Gallery, WA
2024 Finalist, City of Belmont 2024 Art Awards, WA
Arts Grant (Twisted Bodies… exhibition), DLGSC, WA
Finalist, City of Rockingham Art Prize 2024, Rockingham Arts Centre, WA
2023 Finalist, City of Belmont 2023 Art Awards, Belmont, WA
Arts U-15k Grant (Re)Borrowing Arrows… exhibition, DLGSC, Western Australia
2022 Winner, Special Selection Award, E.SUN Bank Awards 3rd Edition (International Category), Taipei, Taiwan
2021 Winner, Southern Buoy Studio Portrait Prize, VIC
Finalist, Be Your Own Hero Art Prize, The Push US, New York City, USA
Finalist, The Incinerator Art Award 2021: Art for Social Change, Incinerator Gallery, VIC
Finalist, Invitation Art Prize 2021, City of Joondalup, WA
2020 Art Grant, Mossenson Art Foundation with Mossenson Galleries, WA
Finalist, The Incinerator Art Award 2020: Art for Social Change, Incinerator Gallery, VIC
The National Assistance Program for the Arts Grant, Sidney Myer Fund & the Myer Foundation
2019 Finalist, Invitation Art Prize 2019, City of Joondalup, WA
2017 Finalist, 13th Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA
1997 Overseas Studies Scholarship, Lee Foundation, Singapore
Overseas Studies Grant, National Arts Council, Singapore
1996 Art Grant, National Arts Council, Singapore
RESIDENCIES + OPPORTUNITIES
2025 boorda yeyi Foundational Symposium, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Western Australia
2023 Fremantle Arts Centre Studio Program (6 months), Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Western Australia
2019 Another Project Space Art Residency, Western Australia
2018 Red Gate + Yew Chung International School of Beijing Residency (November 2018 - January 2019) , Beijing, China
Red Gate Residency (April 2018), Beijing, China
COMMISSIONS
2020 I Am Not A Virus project, commissioned work by Diversity Arts Australia, New South Wales, Australia
Today in My Life -Intermission, commissioned time-lapse video project with H. See, by ScreenWest, Western Australia
COLLECTIONS
Australia: Judith Neilson, City of Vincent, Moonee Valley, St John of God Subiaco Hospital, Tony and Gwyneth Lennon Family Foundation l China: Embassy of Austria l Singapore: The Teng Collection l Taiwan: E.Sun Bank l Private collections in Australia, China, Singapore, Taiwan and UK
PUBLICATIONS
Bahdar K., Silent Song, Indelible Marks Exhibition Catalogue, Sept 2025
Dowling C., Indelible Marks: Resistance, Memory, and Solidarity Across Nations, Exhibition Catalogue, Sept 2025
Huang Xiangjing, “Eight artists join the exhibition to explore the home and identity”: 八位艺术家联展 探索家园和认同, Lianhe Zaobao Newspaper, Singapore, Fu Kan section. Pg. 03, 29 Aug 2025
Cai C., Flip the Sticker: Relational Foreignness of The Other Singaporeans, review, 28 Aug 2025 (Publication in development)
Hodgson I., AWDB SPOTLIGHT: Interview with Desmond Mah...SG60, interview, Art World Database, artworlddatabase.com, 14 Aug 2025
Goh W.H.. Defining The Other Singaporeans, Exhibition Catalogue, Aug 2025
Huang Bairan, Life Rehearsals, review, ARTFORUM (CN), 25 July 2025, wexin url link (image of my works featured).
Jorgenson D., Hollow Icons: Desmond Mah at Mossenson, Dispatch Review, 23 Oct 2024
Buratti R., Upfront/ Previews, Art Collector (Australian magazine), Issue Oct – Dec 2024, p. 40
Morelli N., Twisted Bodies Tell Their Tales, Exhibition Catalogue, Oct 2024
Di Ciero L., Colonial Dualities, interview, Artists Chronicle, Sept/Oct Edition, p. 18, 2024
Beard S., Transmutations, 2023 Anthology, Dispatch Review, University of Western Australia, p.63, 2024
Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 Festival Guide, August – October 2024, P. 48
Beard S., Paper Trails Between Lion and Swan, Dispatch Review, 27 July 2024
Bowman B., International Art Project: Paper Trails Between Lion and Swan, interview, Radio RTRFM 92.1 (Artbeat), 7 June 2023
Pollock S., Arty Exchange, Fremantle Herald. Volume 35 Vol. 21, Pg. 10, 25 May 2024
Yong C. & Hoo S., New Ways of Seeing, The Straits Times Newspaper, Singapore, Pg. C5, 8 Feb 2024
Sun Jingfei, Desmond Mah’s “Language of Immigrants”: 马福民个展 述说个人“移民语言, Lianhe Zaobao Newspaper, Singapore, Life culture and art section. Pg. 03, 29 Dec 2023
Chinese Artists in America Network, *Where is my hometown: 何处是吾乡, artist talk, 25 June 2023
Beard S., Transmutations, Dispatch Review, 23 June 2023
Pollock S., Arty Metaphor, Fremantle Herald. Volume 34 Vol. 22, Pg. , 3 June 2023
Bowman B., *(Re)Borrowing Arrows with Thatched Boats 草船借箭, interview, Radio RTRFM 92.1 (Artbeat), 2 June 2023
Wang Zheng, Abstract Method: Resonance Beyond Form, Chinese Artists in America Network Talk No. 8, 21 May 2023
Mamta Chitnis Sen, Clever Use of A DIY Approach, The Daily Guardian, New Delhi, Pg. 13, 20 Feb 2023
*E.Sun Bank Prize International Category, TVBS Morning News (Taipei, Taiwan), 5 Dec 2022
Ones to Watch, Art/Edit + Interior Design (Australian magazine), Issue # 29, Spring Edition 2021
Starcken S., *A Place We Call Home, exhibition review, Art Almanac, 29 July 2021
Beaumount S., The demolition of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, Simon Beaumont's Weekends Show, Radio 6PR, 27 June 2021
See H., *Dialogic Painting and Mythology: Cross-cultural collaboration amidst COVID restrictions, ACUADS 2020 Conference, Crisis & Resilience: art and design looks ahead, November 2020
McNeill S., Six artists with six new ideas, Post newspaper (Western Australia), November 2020
McKeough C., Out of the darkness, Seesaw Magazine (Western Australia), *online, November 2020
Eveland D., Yesterday’s Monsters, Spittoon Literary Magazine (Beijing), Issue #5, June 2019
SOCIAL MEDIA
IG: desmondmah_
EDUCATION
2000 – 2001 Postgraduate Diploma in Education, National Institute of Education, Singapore
1997 - 1998 Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fine Art Painting, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
1994 – 1997 Diploma in Visual Arts Painting, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
OTHER INFO
2025 Creative Australia Arts Projects For Individuals and Groups, grant application ranked in the top 33% of the round
2024 Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2025 nomination, nominated by Daryl Goh, The Sovereign Art Foundation, Hong Kong
2024 Finalist, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts & Treasure Hill Artist Village Taipei Residency 2025, shortlisted as one of the final
three candidates
2023 MA (Painting), turned down first round offer, Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
* external website links.