Yale-NUS faculty members make an impact in the art and architecture worlds

Images provided by Assistant Professor Joshua Comaroff and Lecturer Tay Wei Leng.

As a liberal arts college, Yale-NUS College fosters a unique learning environment where students are encouraged to step out of the classroom to make an impact. Similarly, many faculty members at Yale-NUS engage in professional creative work outside of campus, leaving their mark on the industry.

At Yale-NUS, Lecturer of Humanities (Art Practice) Tay Wei Leng teaches art practice classes covering photography, media, materiality, and historical immersion in the Singapore art scene. As an artist, she is known for her works which delve into how representation is used in image-making and how difference can be negotiated through perception/reception.

Lecturer Tay Wei Leng. Image provided by Lecturer Tay Wei Leng.

Lecturer Tay’s foray into the art world was serendipitous.

“I started taking photos because I was doing an internship in an immunology lab when I was in college and thought it wasn’t for me,” Lecturer Tay reminisced. “My then-supervisor handed me her camera and said I should just go and explore the city (Boston) with the camera. That was the beginning.”

On her classes at Yale-NUS, Lecturer Tay said, “I am interested in teaching photography because while it informs and shapes how we see and relate to the world around us, it is a fast evolving medium, and I thought it was important for students to learn about ways to think about, use, and see through photography. I am interested in teaching art because it is an important aspect of life and there isn’t enough art education in Singapore.”

“I love making works that can possibly open up ways for people to think about the world in ways different from what they are used to, so what I teach at Yale-NUS is related to my art practice.”

Currently, Lecturer Tay is part of Progressive Disintegrations, which is a collaborative project featuring three artists and one curator. Through their exhibitions, the collective experiments with mixed media, examining the relationship between different art forms and the role of the image. They have worked with guest artists including Brian O’Doherty.

Assistant Professor of Social Sciences (Urban Studies) Joshua Comaroff, who teaches Modern Social Thought and urban studies classes at Yale-NUS, describes his work outside of campus simply as that of a “designer” – a deliberately broad term. “My work deals with how design engages human social-emotional experiences, which are channelled through all kinds of things: buildings, landscapes, writing, furniture, graphics, interior décor,” he explained.

“So, putting any of these into a proprietary silo seems fairly unhealthy, to me.”

Assistant Professor Joshua Comaroff. Image provided by Assistant Professor Joshua Comaroff.

Alongside his partner, Associate Professor of Architecture Ong Ker-Shing at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Asst Prof Comaroff oversees Lekker Architects, a multidisciplinary design studio in Singapore. At Lekker Architects, Asst Prof Comaroff uses design methodologies to create engaging spaces that are enabling and pleasant to be in.

“We don’t think about ‘products’ as outcomes, but are more interested in how different kinds of design output can help people to live in surroundings that assist their aspirations.” Asst Prof Comaroff elaborated, referring to buildings, interior spaces, or even exhibits that Lekker Architects designs. “The social situation, rather, is the outcome.”

Asst Prof Comaroff shared that his interest in architecture and design was sparked by his upbringing in Chicago, where design was seen not just as functional but as a cultural conversation. Over time, Asst Prof realised that his passion lay in exploring the intersections between architecture and society, and how physical spaces can shape social futures.

“At the root of any creative field – whether art or design – is faith that the world can be different,” Asst Prof Comaroff reflected. For his work in contributing to more socially inclusive design, Asst Prof Comaroff was previously awarded Singapore’s President’s Design Award as well as Harvard’s Wheelwright Travelling Fellowship.

In his classes, Asst Prof Comaroff encourages a “studio culture”, marked by collaborative, discussion-based learning and deeper engagements with the built environment. Through his teaching, Asst Prof Comaroff hopes to enable his students to be more critical about the world around them and shape the future that they want to see.

Through their creative and academic practices, Lecturer Tay and Asst Prof Comaroff embody the liberal arts ethos, demonstrating how art, design, and teaching can intersect to imagine new possibilities for society. Through their work and teaching, they hope to inspire Yale-NUS students to pursue diverse passions and engage with the world in meaningful, transformative ways.