A Sign From God belongs to a formative period in Alma Singer’s emerging practice, during which her deliberately naïve imagery and verbal humour became the subject of several dedicated exhibitions. Executed in acrylic and crayon on canvas, the painting is unique in this format, although the composition exists in other forms. It was included in Naughty But Nice, held at Andipa Gallery, London, from 6 to 20 December 2024.

A spreading apple tree occupies almost the entire composition, its substantial orange-brown trunk dividing into an intricate network of branches laden with red fruit and green leaves. Singer’s energetic handling of acrylic and crayon preserves visible lines, repetitions and corrections, while the pale blue sky and luminous green ground establish a consciously simplified landscape. Beneath the tree, an official-looking notice declares “DO NOT EAT THE APPLES”; the phrase “A SIGN FROM GOD” is inscribed prominently across the foreground.

The juxtaposition invokes the biblical account of the forbidden fruit and the Tree of Knowledge, although Singer reduces this weighty narrative to the language of an everyday public warning. The humour depends upon the double meaning of “sign”: both a physical notice and a message understood as divine instruction. By leaving the figures of Adam and Eve absent, Singer transfers the decision to obey or disregard the warning to the viewer.

Alma Singer is the working name of Cambridge-based artist Carla Nizzola, whose adoption of a pseudonym enabled a more candid and irreverent approach to making art. Her works frequently combine intentionally unpolished mark-making with direct statements that question authority, judgement and the seriousness surrounding contemporary culture. In A Sign From God, a familiar moral narrative becomes an accessible visual joke, while retaining an underlying tension between temptation, prohibition and individual choice.