English – Danny Raven Tan

My second Writer’s Fortnight session was extremely different from the first one. Danny Raven Tan is a Singaporean artist. I found myself identifying with him quite a lot in the beginning. He talked about how he believes in passion and expression, which I completely agreed with. When he moved on, he talked about his own story. He dealt with pancreatic cancer, his mother has dementia and his father passed away. His story was very moving and he said that he had once hated the reminders of his struggles in the past, like the scar on his body. But someone brought to his attention that scars are just your survival stories and that, “every scar tells a story.” This really influenced his art work, not in the sense that he painted about cancer and things he struggled with, he realised what it meant to live and what it meant to feel like you were dying and he portrayed that in his paintings. I thought this was quite an interesting way of expressing what you have been through. I love art, I love to draw and I doodle all the time and although I’m not so serious about painting and doing it for a living, it is a really big part of me and it is a way I express myself and my thoughts when I’m forced into silence. I thought that I could even use what he said and his way of expressing in my songs.

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2 Comments on English – Danny Raven Tan

  1. liu67830@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg
    January 31, 2018 at 2:39 am (6 years ago)

    How can you use his inspiration into action, what can you do to improve yourself through his talk?

    Reply
  2. habib13354@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg
    January 31, 2018 at 3:17 am (6 years ago)

    Your view on his life is very interesting. I like how you could identify with his work and life and I also love how you talked about incorporating his story in your songs/art. Something I’m curious to find out about is what was your most important take away from his talk, and if his talk has opened your eyes and made you more curious about dementia patients.

    Reply

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