PORTFOLIO – Key Samples | Dawn-joy Leong

Clement Space – inspired by Lucy Like-a-Charm
“Clement Space” emerged from the prototype “Sonata in Z, 2015”. It is a concept and practice of creating conducive space for sensory equilibrium, respite, restoration and thriving, inspired by my beloved Greyhound, Lucy Like-a-Charm, and based on the intrinsic Autistic hypersensory paradigm.
More than simply a “calm room” or “quiet room”, Clement Space can be a mental space (e.g. a piece of music in the mind, a practice of mindfulness etc); a portable, intimate space (e.g. physical object, like a stim toy, that one carries around); a self-constructed little private nook in the home; or a public shared space. Clement Space has been reiterated multiple times internationally, and directly influenced the design of the National Gallery Singapore’s Calm Room.

More detailed information in these links:

2015 – Sonata in Z, 2015, the physical prototype for Clement Space, Sydney Australia.

2017 – Clement Space in the City, commissioned by the Big Anxiety Festival 2017, Sydney, Australia.

2018 – Clement Space @ Yale-NUS, commissioned by Yale-NUS, Singapore.

2019 – Clement Space – Singapore’s first Disability-Led Arts Residency, supported by The National Library, Singapore.

2019 – Clement Space @Playeum, commissioned by Playeum Singapore.

2020 – Clement Space – a new iteration, commissioned by the National Gallery Singapore for Light to Night Festival.

2021 – Clement Space @Suwon, commissioned by the Suwon Museum of Art, South Korea.

2022 – Clement Space @Tokyo, commissioned by Creative Wellbeing Tokyo, Japan.

2022 – Clement Space @ART:DIS, a workshop and ongoing collaborative work, commissioned by ART:DIS Singapore.

2023 – Clement Space @Enabling Village, commissioned by ART:DIS Singapore, for Enabling Lives Festival.

Scheherazade’s Sea – ongoing development
My autobiographical magnum opus, “Scheherazade’s Sea,” began in 2010. Crafted like a three-part musical Sonata, written in Fantasia form, it encompasses multimodal creative practice and lived-experience as an Autistic woman, in fully accessible audio, video and print formats. I am now developing the final chapter, “Wake Up in My Dreams”.

Book Chapter – Scheherazade’s Sea: Five Women and One,
Making Kin: Ecofeminist Essays from Singapore. Ethos Books, 2021.

This book chapter in a collection published by Ethos Book, Singapore, was written in prose and poetic style, with illustrations, a precursor to the narrative text of my currently developing finale to my epic multimodal autobiographical memoir-fantasie, “Scheherazade’s Sea: Wake Up in My Dreams.”

Lucy Like-a-Charm – sketches and paintings.
Returning to drawing and painting in honour of Lucy and for the development of the memoir-fantasie. These are digital experiments, documenting my process and progress since making the commitment to do at least one every day, since January 2025. (Complete collection and updated regularly here: Schehehrazade’s Sea – Gallery.)