, photographed on 14 June 2009 Han is probably best known for her stone sculptures with organic forms; she sees her sculpture as having "a force or inner life inside struggling to get out". Having a preference for
granite and
marble, Han often purchases stone using her own resources from quarries in China, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. The cost of just the material for solo exhibition pieces can be up to
S$20,000. Nonetheless, she is motivated by the encouragement, recognition and acknowledgement her art she receives from others.
Spirit of Nature (1988), three black granite ovoid and spheroid forms;
Object C (1992), a pale grey granite object resembling a canoe; and
Seeds (2006), large
kernels carved from
sandstone excavated from
Fort Canning Hill during the National Museum's redevelopment. Art historian and critic
T.K. Sabapathy has commented that Han is concerned with the uneasy relation between men and nature in the modern era, and has expressed a desire for people to realize that "[we] are part of nature and not apart from nature". In addition, he has described her sculptures as "compact, entirely solid mass of material which she shapes but does not perforate or open up" and that "they [were] the outcome of a single-minded concentration on mass and volume." and opened-up
planes (
Cubic Triangle) connected with each other through the use of angles, and light and shadow. Han said: "My works are based on the concept of mathematical logic. The idea is to show how each step is based on the previous one so that the geometrical forms progress in logical sequence ... The fourth dimension is abstract. It cannot be seen or touched. It contains the feelings and talents of Mankind. We wish to possess this space and to open it up for all people to share." Sabapathy was somewhat critical of these works, saying that they dealt only with techniques and fabrication and did not "disclose fresh insights into space and its articulation". He expressed the hope that Han would stay the course and deepen her investigation beyond form into an exploration of light, colour and materials to "create environments in which form, space and time can be seen to be related in ever-changing yet intelligent systems".
20 Tonnes, first exhibited in 2002 in the atrium of the
MICA Building (formerly the
Old Hill Street Police Station) and now permanently installed in front of the National Museum, consists of a row of six ridged
monolithic granite blocks with a smaller block at either end, all hewn from a single rock. Han called the work "an explanation of nature's physical reaction when it is impacted by force, gravity and energy", and commented: "When I am working on stone, the immediate context is physical, the force of hammering, chiseling and drilling hard stone creates heat and energy. The reaction of the particles causes sparks and waves of sound. The appearance of the stone is the result, the consequent physical reaction. Understanding the character of nature through the physical context has become part of my sculpture." According to art curator Tay Swee Lin, Han's sculptures "exude smooth, sensual lines that are quietly engaging and tactile", and her art "is a testimony of beauty with meditative quietness belying a resilience and strength that stone and metal encompass. The artist's personal relationship with her art is one that is complete – her sculptures are crafted by hand from start to finish; painstakingly carved, sanded and polished. ... In land scarce Singapore, Han's work encapsulates the appreciation and understanding of the delicate balance of nature that exists in an urban environment." In the catalogue accompanying her
Four Dimensions exhibition, Han stated: "
Postmodernism accepts the facts that art does not follow any rigid man-made rules. If the artist says, 'this is art' then it is art, provided only that the artist can demonstrate a valuable idea or concept. Art needs man to judge and decide whether it is indeed art." Her 2015 work
Harvest was the first in which she used
stainless steel mesh in its creation. Her usual sculptures use granite, such as in her
Seeds series, or wood, such as in
Black Forest (2013), but the use of mesh in
Harvest "evoked little of that heft." Instead,
Harvest appears light or delicate due to its use of mesh.
Harvest depicts creatures such as birds and fish along with plant-life, which were described as "being small, temporal and fragile" or "easily damaged and overlooked." Beyond sculpting, Han has also created paintings, usually with
acrylics. Some of her more recent exhibitions such as
The Black Forest (2011) and
Dance With the Wind (2019) have included both her sculptures and paintings;
The Black Forest was one of her first exhibitions to have a focus on her paintings instead of her sculptures. Her paintings for
The Black Forest were made in
black and white, representing the exhibition's overarching message of the destruction of the environment. In
Dance With the Wind, Han made 10 sculptures and 12 paintings. This exhibition also featured the use of white stone known as han bai yu, which she discovered in China. Even though this stone was more expensive than her usual medium, Han opted to use it due to its quality and purity. Her
Dance With the Wind paintings depict movement, which she based on her experiences of wind and typhoons in Southern China. She attributed her lean towards creating paintings to her age and recent
cataract surgery, further stating that "with sculpting, there is the cutting, noise, dust and sweat. With painting, you can sit with a fan, sit back on a sofa. Your brain calms down, it's more quiet." ==Awards and honours==