Singapore
Joanna Maneckji
Artist, author, educator.
Joanna Maneckji is an award-winning Singaporean artist, author and educator whose collage practice transforms fragments of paper into evocative reflections on identity, memory and nature. In 2024, she received the Most Promising Artist of the Year (Singapore) prize at the 43rd UOB Painting of the Year Competition.
Joanna's whimsical, layered collages use hand-cut magazine paper in place of paint. Unexpected colours, patterns and printed fragments come together to reveal butterflies, heliconias and other forms from nature. Her work invites us to look closely and pause, carrying a quiet message about nature's restorative power and creativity's ability to transform.
Drawing on her own experience of collage as a way to navigate complex emotions, Joanna also teaches people of all ages. She developed “Creative Contemplation,” a process combining creativity, reflection and mindfulness to encourage individual and group insight.
Joanna has exhibited in Singapore at venues including the UOB Discovery Space at the National Gallery, Loy Contemporary Art Gallery and Art Seasons. Born and raised in India in a multicultural, multinational family, she draws inspiration from global decorative traditions as well as personal stories and the natural world.
She holds a Master's degree in Teaching and a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Smith College, and currently lives and works in Singapore.
On the wall
