Han Sai Por (1943 - )

Born in 1943, Han Sai Por is a Singaporean female sculptor best known for her nature-inspired sculpture carved from stone, marble and granite. Her oeuvre reflects the impacts of urbanisation and its dimensions within the language of sculpture. Han’s vocabulary of materials, textures, drawings and installations has greatly enriched the critical discourse on conceptual art and public sculpture in Singapore and abroad. Dedicated to her career as a modern sculptor, she has exhibited her works worldwide, in Indonesia, India, Denmark, Canada, New Zealand and Russia. She has also held numerous solo exhibitions, including The Forest and Its Soul at Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore and Microorganism Landscape at Esplanade, Singapore, in 2022. Han’s large-scale works, breathing life into organic forms and figures, offer a meditative presence in public spaces.  

Han graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in 1977. She then studied at East Ham College of Art (previously named Wolverhampton College of Art) in the United Kingdom, where she trained under Anish Kapoor. Han graduated from the school with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fine Art in 1983. She returned to Singapore in 1984 to work as an art educator, serving at various institutions, including Nanyang Girls’ High School, NAFA, Lasalle College of the Arts and the National Institute of Education. She pursued further studies at New Zealand’s Lincoln University in 2014, marrying her passion for sculpture with her love of nature in her practice.

Han’s work has received international acclaim, like the grand prize at the XI Triennale-India in New Delhi in 2005, and the Outstanding City Sculpture Award in China in 2006. She was also a finalist in the 2008 Beijing Olympic International Tour Exhibition. In 1995, she was conferred the Cultural Medallion.