Biography

Khairulddin Wahab’s (b. 1990, Singapore) paintings weave narratives drawn from anthropology, environmental history, and post-colonialism in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Working from found images and iconography derived from his geographic and cultural contexts, Wahab creates visual tableaus that allude to our historico-political encounters with the natural world.

 

He graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts (2014) and has exhibited in local and international exhibitions, including Tang Contemporary in Beijing in 2021, Biennale Jogja 2019, S.E.A. Focus, and State of Motion 2018. Wahab held his first solo exhibition The Word for World is Forest at Cuturi Gallery in 2021 and subsequently, Shape of Land in 2023.

 

Khairulddin Wahab was the winner of the 2018 UOB Painting of the Year award and recipient of the 2014 Winston Oh Travel Research Award. He was also the recipient of the National Library Creative Residency in 2022. He has since exhibited at the Singapore Art Museum, Paris Asia NOW, Abu Dhabi Art, ART SG, S.E.A. Focus, Esplanade Singapore, Tina Kim Gallery in New York, among others.

Exhibitions
Works
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 1, 2024
    Talisman 1, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 2, 2024
    Talisman 2, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 4, 2024
    Talisman 4, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 5, 2024
    Talisman 5, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 8, 2024
    Talisman 8, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 9, 2024
    Talisman 9, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 10, 2024
    Talisman 10, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 12, 2024
    Talisman 12, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, The Lands Below the Winds, 2024
    The Lands Below the Winds, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Cleave, 2023
    Cleave, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Archival Photo Print: Till The Ground, 2021
    Archival Photo Print: Till The Ground, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Sleeping Dawn, 2019
    Sleeping Dawn, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, A Boulder Rock and Singapore Stone, 2019
    A Boulder Rock and Singapore Stone, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Rites, 2019
    Rites, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, The River, 2019
    The River, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, What Lies Beyond, 2019
    What Lies Beyond, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Heatmap, 2024
    Heatmap, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Elusive Neighbours, 2024
    Elusive Neighbours, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Glass Eaters, 2024
    Glass Eaters, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, What The Forest Remembers, 2024
    What The Forest Remembers, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 3, 2024
    Talisman 3, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 6, 2024
    Talisman 6, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 7, 2024
    Talisman 7, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Talisman 11, 2024
    Talisman 11, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Grand Conjuration, 2024
    Grand Conjuration, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Oddly Shaped Rocks or Very Large Trees, 2024
    Oddly Shaped Rocks or Very Large Trees, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Sunda Shelf, 2024
    Sunda Shelf, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Hymn to the Wind, 2024
    Hymn to the Wind, 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Sundaland (Diptych), 2024
    Sundaland (Diptych), 2024
  • Khairulddin Wahab, The Struggle for Luxuriance, 2023
    The Struggle for Luxuriance, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Green Screen, 2023
    Green Screen, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, The Farthest Boundary, 2023
    The Farthest Boundary, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Impure and Worldly Geography, 2023
    Impure and Worldly Geography, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Otherlands, 2023
    Otherlands, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Near Light, 2023
    Near Light, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Sojourn, 2023
    Sojourn, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Ghost of Navigators, 2023
    Ghost of Navigators, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Stranger in a Strange Land, 2023
    Stranger in a Strange Land, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, A Thousand Plateaus, 2023
    A Thousand Plateaus, 2023
  • Khairulddin Wahab, 11 Knots, 2022
    11 Knots, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Descent from the Carriage, 2022
    Descent from the Carriage, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Tropical Possessions, 2022
    Tropical Possessions, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Reclaim, 2022
    Reclaim, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Sacred Geometry, 2022
    Sacred Geometry, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Pushing Tides, 2022
    Pushing Tides, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Land of the Living, 2022
    Land of the Living, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Serpentine Prison, 2022
    Serpentine Prison, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Landward, 2022
    Landward, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Beyond the Seas, 2022
    Beyond the Seas, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Flight of the Gods, 2022
    Flight of the Gods, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Spoken Lore, 2022
    Spoken Lore, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Terra Nullius, 2022
    Terra Nullius, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Through the Glass, 2022
    Through the Glass, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Day One, 2022
    Day One, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, In Search of Topos, 2022
    In Search of Topos, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Fieldwork, 2022
    Fieldwork, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Sumpit, 2022
    Sumpit, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Afterlives, 2022
    Afterlives, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, A Place in the Sun, 2022
    A Place in the Sun, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, The Kiss, 2022
    The Kiss, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Reshape, 2022
    Reshape, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Specimens, 2022
    Specimens, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, In the Margins, 2022
    In the Margins, 2022
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Humid House, 2021
    Humid House, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Herringbone, 2021
    Herringbone, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Seven Years, 2021
    Seven Years, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, A Variation On Things Imperfectly Known, 2021
    A Variation On Things Imperfectly Known, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Land Without Soil, 2021
    Land Without Soil, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Till The Ground, 2021
    Till The Ground, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, The Golden Chersonese, 2021
    The Golden Chersonese, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Herbaria Sheet 1 After J.S, 2021
    Herbaria Sheet 1 After J.S, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Herbaria Sheet 2 After J.S, 2021
    Herbaria Sheet 2 After J.S, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Herbaria Sheet 3 After J.S, 2021
    Herbaria Sheet 3 After J.S, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Herbaria Sheet 4 After J.S, 2021
    Herbaria Sheet 4 After J.S, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Pleasure Ground 1, 2021
    Pleasure Ground 1, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Pleasure Ground 2, 2021
    Pleasure Ground 2, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Travellers, 2021
    Travellers, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, By the River, 2021
    By the River, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, View from Mount Wallich, 2021
    View from Mount Wallich, 2021
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Past The Forest, 2019
    Past The Forest, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Mantle, 2019
    Mantle, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, After Dragon's Toothgate, 2019
    After Dragon's Toothgate, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Bukit Larangan, 2019
    Bukit Larangan, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, New Dawn, 2019
    New Dawn, 2019
  • Khairulddin Wahab, Words in Amber, 2019
    Words in Amber, 2019
Press
News