Singaporean artist Han Sai Por is best known for her body of work inspired by the significant impacts of human activities on nature and its ecological systems. While working as a full-time teacher from 1965 to 1968, Han’s passion for art spurred her to take part-time studies at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. She subsequently went to further her education at Wolverhampton College of Art, United Kingdom, from 1979 to 1983. Presenting a penchant for analysing raw materials such as marble, wood and granite in her works, she decided to pursue her studies in Landscape Architecture at New Zealand’s Lincoln University from 2004 to 2008.

The work Saving Seed #26 was featured as part of the multimedia installation Han Sai Por: Black Forest 2013, commissioned by and showcased at NAFA Galleries. This sculpture, presented in all black, evokes the grim reality of seed extinction caused by deteriorating environments. This work—and other sculpture, drawings, and videos shown during the exhibition—draws an ironic parallel between deforestation and humans’ attempts to preserve seeds and other diminishing materials. By doing so, the works also comment on human interventions and their destructive impact on the environment. The exhibition is a sequel to Han’s previous series, Black Forest, which was staged at the Esplanade in 2011.