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Local Illustrator Priscilla Tey Wins at the World Illustration Awards 2025 Powered by HP Latex Ink

Singaporean illustrator Priscilla Tey has been awarded the top prize in the Site Specific Professional Category at the World Illustration Awards 2025, organised by The Association of Illustrators (a UK based organisation) in partnership with the Directory of Illustration (based in the USA). Her project, ** It Takes A Village** , was selected from more than 4,700 entries across 85 countries.

“I'm incredibly honoured and truly proud of the entire team behind this project,” said Tey. “It’s a privilege to have our work acknowledged by the jury alongside such an inspiring array of projects this year. This project was a love letter to Singapore’s kampong spirit, and it’s rewarding to see those stories resonate with global audiences”.

The project, a life-sized illustrated installation, was presented by National Gallery Singapore in partnership with CapitaLand Investment (CLI) for National Day 2024. It travelled between 3 malls (Raffles City Singapore, Plaza Singapura and CQ @ Clarke Quay) from 1 to 26 August 2024 and was opened to the public.

It Takes A Village invited audiences to explore whimsical depictions of Singapore’s urbanscape and folktales. The work was constructed entirely out of cardboard with the help of Trio Packaging, a local company founded in 1977 as a manufacturer of corrugated carton boxes. The graphics illustrated by Tey were printed on the surface using HP’s eco-friendly water-based latex ink, allowing the installation to be recycled at the end of the event.

Amidst the cardboard neighbourhood of familiar buildings, furniture, flora and fauna, were scenes that collectively painted a picture of life in this tropical city, some of which could come alive through Augmented Reality (AR) activations.

With the aim to promote a collective identity, Priscilla Tey centred her modular designs around 3 core themes: The Community, The Land and The Stories, which she felt were the foundations on which we continue to build our Kampong Spirit.

Her structures referenced the local architecture in Tiong Bahru, black and white bungalows, shophouses and HDB void decks, creating a 3D collage of the local urban environment that mall visitors could explore. Brightly coloured patterns and illustrations of plant and animal life punctuated the site. The botanicals were inspired by stylizations of flora found in batik fabrics whilst surface patterns referenced Peranakan tiles. Her whimsical portrayal of wild chickens were a comical tribute to the absurd but charming presence of these humble animals in the downtown core.

Anchoring the exhibition was a dynamic fountain from which flowed cardboard depictions of scenes from local folktales such as the story of Sang Nila Utama and Redhill (otherwise known as Singapura Dilanggar Todak). At the centre of the entire exhibit was a communal space marked by the iconic blue stone tables commonly found in void decks. It was in this space that visitors could participate in various workshops and activities organised by the National Gallery Singapore and CLI.

In response to the good news, National Gallery Singapore has stated “This award isn’t just a win for the Gallery, it’s a proud moment for Singapore. It shows that our commissions don’t just enrich community spaces at home; they resonate on the world stage, spotlighting Singaporean creativity and storytelling for global audiences.”

CLI also extends warmest congratulations to Priscilla on her remarkable achievement. “Witnessing our community gather and connect through It Takes A Village has been profoundly rewarding. Priscilla’s work has not only transformed our spaces but also sparked joy and a deeper appreciation for the stories that shape Singapore’s cultural heritage.”

About the Artist

Priscilla Tey (b. 1992, Singapore) is a Singaporean illustrator, multimedia artist and author, best known for her picture books In-Between Things, Twitchy Witchy Itch and Counting in Dog Years, which were published by Candlewick Press (USA). In 2022, her book Counting in Dog Years (written by Betsy Franco), was featured in the New York Public Library’s Best Books List.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, IL ‘15 ), which she attended on a full scholarship, Priscilla enjoys working across different media, balancing digital art with tactile craft. Central to her varied practice is storytelling and a curiosity for how places can be vessels for all sorts of narratives. From picture books to packaging design and installations, Priscilla constantly experiments with different ways to present her illustrated tales, creating new experiences in traditional, print and digital media.

She has previously created art for the SG Formula 1
Grand Prix, Porsche, HP, Singapore Tourism Board,
Tatler Magazine, Singapore Writers Festival, and the
National Day Parade 2024, to name a few. Her illustrations have also been internationally recognized by juries from the Society of Illustrators (NY, USA) and Communication Arts (CA, USA), and have been exhibited in the Society of Illustrators’ Museum of American Illustration in New York.

In 2024, her mural installation for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix was shortlisted for a World Illustration Award. The following year, her packaging design work for Bynd Artisan’s 10th Anniversary won the Communication Arts award of excellence (2025) and her installation It Takes A Village won in the site specific professional category at the World Illustration Awards 2025.

Priscilla hopes to create more 3D displays like It Takes A Village in the future, as she is a lover of theatre, film sets and has fond childhood memories of exploring window displays with her mother during the festive season.

For more information and images of the installation, you can reference: https://www.priscillatey.com/national-gallery-x-capitaland

To learn more about HP Large Format Printing, visit: https://www.hp.com/us-en/printers/large-format/latex-printers

About HP

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