I met Jolene Liam over a year ago, thanks to a mutual artist friend Aleks Faust. We talked about a possible artshow, and I remember thinking how for away it was.

But it’s come around quickly, and Jolene is now showing her exhibition Corridor Garden at the Tavistock Centre!

Corridor Garden

The exhibition draws its title from an earlier series of drawings with the same name, documenting corridor gardens in Singapore’s public housing estates and celebrating how people make these in-between spaces their own. With this collection of works, a corridor garden is created rather than depicted, informed by the improvisational nature of these places.

Jolene Liam is an artist and architect from Singapore and based in London. Her practice explores different ways of thinking about and describing the places around us, from everyday and in-between spaces to imagined landscapes.

Interview

How did you start your artistic journey?

I’ve been drawing ever since I was little and did a lot of art in school. My focus shifted to architecture when I began my training, but after a few years in practice I started to make drawings for myself again, and not for a specific project.

At first, these were mainly explorations of the gaps between conventional methods of architectural representation. They have gradually expanded to include looser mappings of places I visit and abstract explorations of different materials.

Just over three years ago, I left full time architectural practice to focus on my art and have been shaping my own education through alternative learning programmes and courses. These have been so crucial in pushing my work forwards as I’ve been able to meet other artists and have good conversations about my practice and making art in general.

Tell me more about the corridor garden tradition in Singapore. I looked it up, and haven’t come across anything like this in other countries, but absolutely love the idea of giving purpose to unused spaces and inviting the nature in.

Most of Singapore’s population lives in subsidised government-built homes. These buildings can be quite repetitive, but you can often find informal front gardens created with arrangements of potted plants in the common corridor, providing a way of connecting with nature on a more personal scale whilst living in a dense urban environment.

I’m really interested in how these corridor gardens give a hint of the different characters behind each door. They are fascinating examples of how something unplanned can become intrinsically stitched into the urban fabric and identity of a place.

Do you think that tending to plants and being around nature can have a healing impact on our mental wellbeing?

Definitely! For me, being around plants and nature is such a good reminder to be more accepting of changes and things I cannot control. Plants make such a difference to the spaces we inhabit – without them, our surroundings would be so harsh and unhealthy.

I must admit that I’m not very good at taking care of plants, but it’s always satisfying to notice little signs of growth like new leaves or flowers. So many of my plants have come back from the brink of death which shows how resilient nature can be.

What are your artistic plans for the rest of the year and 2026?

The exhibition at Tavistock and Portman has been such a great opportunity for me to look at the work I’ve made over the last two years and discover relationships between different pieces. These are only the beginnings of many experiments with materials that I want to try. My aim for the upcoming year is to keep finding the time and space to make the work that I want to make, and opportunities to share it with others.

This year, I’m taking part in two more group shows in London – Southwark Park Galleries’ Annual Open and the ING Discerning Eye. After that, I’ll be spending some time with my family in Singapore and hope to develop new ideas and art whilst I’m there.

Jolene Liam’s Corridor Garden runs until 15 November 2025 at the Tavistock Centre, 120 Belsize Lane, London NW3 5BA. Check out her website and Instagram.