Isabella Ong is a visual artist, researcher, and writer whose practice interrogates the conflict between our built and natural environment, with works examining sites of extraction and contention. She is interested in modes of narrative and communication in the current ecological crisis; exploring how artistic production can deconstruct reductive binaries to generate complex and nuanced conversations about environmental events and issues. Trained as both an architect and coder, she often employs computational techniques in her investigation of the material evidence of our human-impacted world. She works across the fields of material research, natural sciences, data, and physical computation, with works materialising as kinetic installations, algorithm-based works, and writings in the essay form.

She received her MArch in Design for Performance and Interaction from the Bartlett, University College of London (2018), and her BA in Architecture from the National University of Singapore (2015). Her work has been exhibited at the National Design Centre, Singapore; Objectifs Centre, Singapore; COP26 in Glasgow; Today Art Museum, Beijing. In 2022, she was part of the design team for the Singapore Pavilion at the 18th Biennale Architettura in Venice. In 2023, she was an artist-in-residence at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA). She currently teaches architecture studios at National University of Singapore, and at the Design Practice programme in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

She is also a co-founder of awe.curation, a platform that presents artists and designers working at the intersection of art and technology.

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EDUCATION

Masters of Architecture, Design for Performance and Interaction,
The Bartlett, University College of London
2017—2018

Bachelors of Arts in Architecture (Hons), National University of Singapore
2011—2015

Adam Caruso Studio, ETH Zurich
2013



EXHIBITIONS
 
Lucy in the Sky with Debris; Errant Stars
Objectifs Centre for Photography & Film, Singapore
4—28 April 2024

Phases (Melaleuca Cajuputi),
OH! Kampong Gelam
30 March—12 May 2024

When is Enough, Enough? Singapore Pavilion,
Biennale Architettura 2023, Venice 
May—November 2023

Weathering With You, Waste Refinery (Group Show),
National Design Centre, Singapore
2021—2022

Weathering With You,
HEARTH Gallery, Singapore
2021

Weathering With You, Reimagining Museums for Climate Action,
COP26, Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow
2021

Machines of Bits and Bobs, And The Exquisite Monsters They Create, Dutch Design Week (Virtual),
2020

Íchni film showcase, Here There,
Today Art Museum, Beijing
2019

Íchni film showcase, Bartlett Fifteen,
The Bartlett, UCL, London
2018

Íchni, Gradute Project Faire
Here East, UCL, London
2018

Wall Campus, CityEx,
URA Building, Singapore
2015
 
The Collab-oratory, SG50: Rethinking Our City For Singapore’s Next 50 Years,
URA Building, Singapore
2015

Panopticon, CityEx,
URA Building, Singapore
2013

Cafe/Speakeasy,
Lorong 24A Shophouse, Singapore
2011



RESIDENCIES / WORKSHOPS

Artist-in-Residence, 
Curtin Institute for Radio Astronomy
September—October 2023

Empower Shack, Brillembourg & Klumpner Chair of Architecture and Urban Design, ETH, Zurich
2013

Transmaterial II, Monash Art Design & Architecture (MADA), Melbourne
2013



PUBLICATIONS

‘Healing and Intimacy in Climate Narratives’, Article. In: Reimagining Museums for Climate Action.
Edited by Rodney Harrison and Colin Sterling.
2021

PLAYHOUSE, Machines Of Bits And Bobs, And The Exquisite Monsters They Create
2021

LAF: Observation and Representation, Journal Article “ĺchni: Devices for a Joyful Architecture
2019



AWARDS

Reimagining Museums for Climate Action, Finalist
2020

Wonderfruit Pavilion, Shortlisted
2019

Bee Breeder’s Internet Museum, Honourable Mention
2016

Vertical Cities Asia Competition, Honourable Mention
2015



 SELECTED TALKS

‘Lucy in the Sky with Debris: Artist Talk’,
Science Centre, Singapore
2024

‘Data as a Lover: On Physical Computation’, Pecha Kucha
Figment Club House, Singapore
2024

‘Space Junk, Uncertain Conjunctions & Future Myths’, Science Cafe
Science Centre, Singapore
2023