Amidst the uncertainties of the seemingly endless stretches of various lockdowns last year, painting offered a sense of structure and routine for artist Alvin Ong, based between London and Singapore. His recent installation at The Armory Show, titled “In My Head,” showcases the products of his quarantine practice. “Working on each canvas one at a time, over the course of the year they progressively became a sort of visual diary, a constellation of my life, my restlessness, and my memories,” he explains. Later in the year, he became interested in a structure that could contain the many twists and turns in his figurative and thematic explorations. “In My Head” features the paintings in a massive grid, taking on new form as a whole. Ong describes: “At the end, it was a surreal experience, as viewing them all at once felt to me like a compression of time, of an entire year in a moment.”

See more from “In My Head” below!