Ava Tan @ Tan Lei (b.1984) is a visual artist born in Shandong, China. As a young painter, she received the tutelage of Chinese artists and honed her craft both in China and Singapore where she graduated with a Diploma and Degree in Fine Arts (Painting) in 2008 and 2010 respectively. Additionally, Ava’s works have won accolades in both countries, having received the LASALLE-SIA Scholarship in 2009 and the Talent Award in China in 2004. Her cultural bilingualism has seen her exhibit as a solo artist in ‘Red Man, Green Girl’ in 2010 at One:East Art Space in Singapore and in ‘Portraits’ in China in 2003, amongst others.

Ava combines traditional mediums with a contemporary philosophy in her paintings. Using the human body in her mediums and dreams as references, this allows her to explore an inward turning world that appears incongruent from the workings of a sensing body. Ultimately, she wishes to capture lust and desire within a frame by having her works border abstraction and figuration.