Ng Weijiang, who goes by Orhganic, is an Instagram wizard born and based in Singapore. Using his Instagram feed as his gallery, he juxtaposes several images to create a clean-cut, refined collage. In an art medium that usually sees a lot of overlap, Weijiang’s collages are instead defined by order and alignment. His black & white photography adds to the sophistication of his work by directing attention to the “shapes and lines” of his subjects.
Architecture is a noticeably key influence in his photography. Considering the pressure of housing over 5 million people on a small island, Singapore has a unique range of building designs, from high-rise flats to glittering malls (and even artificial supertrees). Weijiang’s knack for re-design gives buildings a new structure as he takes them apart and fits them into a calculated Instagram square.
He also brings in fragments of the ordinary and creates something utterly peculiar. With continued explorations into juxtaposition and surrealism, his collages are bound to get funkier. And really, his work is just so damn satisfying to look at.
Read my interview with him below and view his feed here: INSTAGRAM
What got you into photography and collage art? How did you develop the style of these B&W collage grids?
I started fiddling with film cameras early in college and it grew to become a part of my life when I started working extensively with it as the chosen medium for my Art finals.
The grids came about when I realized that the closely packed images could form collages but yet did not want to have to post multiple parts of a whole image in one go. The idea was to create strong stand-alone images that could also come together to form something unexpected.
I’ve been working with B&W since then as well to put more focus on the shapes and lines of my subjects. The style has since become somewhat of a reflection of my quiet character as well I guess.
Architecture seems to be the guiding force behind your work, from photos of buildings to precise alignments between Instagram posts. It’s almost like you’re using Lego instead of paper and glue. What about architecture inspires you? Why do you go Dr. Frankenstein on buildings?
Buildings have always fascinated me, with the idea of them towering over us all the time (pun intended). The idea of them being able to host countless people from all walks of life and forming communities, bringing people together – it’s amazing, isn’t it? The chopping and mixing up of architectural structures came about when I got the idea of interchanging building communities. I wanted to visualize my imaginations of how architecture could be in the future. Perhaps having them dissected or built in parts such that they can be swapped around could possibly see changes to how people interact and get communities to bond.
I tend to work with more modern architecture but at times, the introduction of traditional architecture adds a refreshing touch to the collage. The traditional elements tend to give the collage a steampunk sort of look. If there’s one thing in Singapore that gets my attention, it would be the rapid development. It’s impressive yet saddening at the same time. We’re able to keep improving but yet a lot of our landscape with precious culture and history can only be retained in images and memories.Aside from architecture, I also create collage pieces on Instagram with daily objects that I find around us with an abstract twist.
They definitely do. The lines help in emphasizing how the images were meant to be individual pieces but yet they are thin enough for seeing the collage as a whole.For collages that go across 3 squares, do the squares framing them have any significance or is it arbitrary?
In the earlier sets, those squares were arbitrary but these days I try to arrange them in a symmetrical order in the sense that they would be similar in tone and texture or sometimes, subject. This is to give the feed more visual balance.
Before Instagram, I was already shooting for a while, doing it for school and leisure, but there wasn’t a platform to properly showcase them. I had some works online but they were not being seen as well as how everyone’s works are received on Instagram these days.With different apps coming online all the time, I can’t tell how long I’ll be able to use Instagram this way. I’ll definitely have to move beyond it one day, but for now, I still enjoy having this account as my gallery and it should stay for some time.What plans do you have moving forward as an artist?
I’m doing a BA in communication design right now so I’m hoping I can bring some of these ideas with me into advertising or design works, but on the side I’ll still be trying to create more, and exploring related themes like juxtaposition with more surreal works.
