Mapys Art World
Escaping from real world complexity and societal expectations, finding comfort in make believe dreamscape and the simple life, realizing emotions like fear, love and uncertainty.
About the artist
Sixiu Tan’s identity is defined by a distinct duality: the academic rigor of a National University of Singapore Design Lecturer, and the surrealist naivety of an artist operating under the alias Mapys.
Her practice Mapys Art World, begun in 2025, marks a return to fine art following a fifteen year career in commercial design, moving away from corporate constraints toward surrealist dreamscapes.
Current series
Pink Teddy and Panda
In her latest series, Mapys invites us into a visceral, non-linear exploration of the psyche through her primary protagonists: Pink Teddy and Panda. Using the raw, tactile language of dark surrealism and fantasy, Mapys navigates the turbulent waters of her own emotional world, casting Pink Teddy as her surrogate self.
Materials
By utilizing discarded cardboard, ink, oil pastels, and thick textural putty, Mapys mirrors the grit of reality. Her “dirty” color palette, rich, saturated and complexly mixed, defies traditional realism to capture the loose and often messy nature of human feeling.
Connection and disconnection
The relationship between Pink Teddy and Panda is the emotional anchor of the series. It is an atypical bond that blurs the lines between friendship, romantic love, and the protective safety of family.
Collage
A key technical signature of this series is the use of collage. The characters are often cutouts, pasted onto the canvas as if they are separate from the world they inhabit, suggesting a disconnection between the artist’s intentions or dreams and the cold reality of the external world.
Ultimately, this series serves a purgative function. Mapys utilizes her art as a channel to externalise and empty her thoughts. Through the loosely depicted forms of a teddy and a panda, she invites the viewer to acknowledge their own melancholia and find the flying carpets hidden within their own dreams.