Claudia Koh is an artist whose work delves deep into the complexities of identity, cultural heritage, and the human experience within Singapore's unique societal landscape. Through her evocative self-portraits and symbolic paintings, Koh creates a visual dialogue that bridges her Southeast Asian Chinese roots with the contemporary urban realities of her homeland, while also exploring the ephemeral nature of existence.

Koh's artistic practice is deeply rooted in self-exploration and cultural introspection. Drawing from her experiences as a young Singaporean woman of Chinese descent, she skillfully weaves together elements of traditional symbolism with modern artistic techniques. Her work often features objects and motifs that carry cultural significance, such as blue-and-white porcelain vases, pan chang knots, and tropical fruits like rambutans, seamlessly integrated into contemporary settings. These elements serve as poignant reminders of the transient nature of cultural traditions in a rapidly evolving society.

Self-portraiture evidently serves as a powerful medium for exploring themes of vulnerability, empowerment, and the multifaceted nature of the Chinese female identity. By depicting herself in various states - sometimes fragmented, sometimes whole - Koh challenges historical representations of women in art, particularly those that have confined women to passive roles, especially in a country that plays with censorship. Her nude self-portraits are acts of reclamation, asserting her right to visibility and self-expression in a world that often renders women invisible, while also capturing the fleeting moments of self-discovery.

Koh's work is deeply influenced by her experiences of displacement and the search for belonging. Feelings of anxiety and grief allow for the incorporation of elements of her homeland into her paintings, using them as anchors of identity and connection to her roots. These elements often appear as ephemeral fragments, highlighting the transitory nature of memory and cultural connection.

The interplay between body and space is a central theme in Koh's work. She constructs liminal spaces within her canvases where the physical form interacts with and responds to its environment. These spaces often reflect the constraints - physical, political, and psychological - imposed by Singapore's highly structured society, while also embodying the impermanence of these societal constructs.

Through her art, Koh navigates the tension between these societal constraints and the desire for individual expression and liberation. Her subjects frequently undergo metamorphoses, symbolizing the constant adaptation required in navigating modern urban environments and the ephemeral nature of identity itself. By depicting these metamorphoses, Koh explores themes of self-fragmentation and the erosion of personal boundaries in contemporary spaces, capturing the transient states of being in a world of constant flux.

Koh is completing her BFA in Painting at The Rhode Island School of Design in 2025.