In light of the recent Movement Control Order (MCO), I decided to use my free time to compile and re-evaluate the artworks I have done over the last three decades.
My sketching journey began when I was in secondary school. Besides being an active member of Chung Ling High School Art Society, I also sought private lessons from artists outside of school. I had two teachers – Dato’ Tan Chiang Kiong and the late Mr. Tan Lye Hoe. I still remember Mr Tan Lye Hoe saying to me, “The stone lions outside Tan Kongsi* are amazing still-life subject to practice. The lions should appear three-dimensional. You need to draw as though you are a sculptor – every stroke must be concise and powerful.” That was my introduction to sketching and the start to my artistic journey.
*Tan Kongsi is a clan temple that used to be a place of dwelling in the 19th century by the Chinese Hokkien immigrants who share the surname, Tan.
Emperor God’s Tablet, 1990, that is commonly seen in George Town
Stream, c. 1990
As my secondary school only offered Science and Commerce subjects, I did not have the opportunity to study fine art. Reluctantly, I became a Science stream student. I did not enjoy all of my subjects but biology, and that was only because I love watching fishes in the aquarium! My only escape from my dull subjects was the weekly meeting of Chung Ling Art Society. I remember vividly the little art room underneath my school’s clock tower. There were two hallways entrance to the room. We only used the left hallway because we used the right-side one as a pottery studio! I remember the plaster sculptures that were displayed in the room for drawing practice. I used to laugh when the mischievous students make undergarments for Venus out of little cloth strips.
Pottery Studio of Chung Ling Art Society, 1994, artist collection
Every Saturday, the art society’s meeting was from 9 am to 12 noon, then the few of us would go to George Town for lunch and watch a movie. We used to admire Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-wai, even though we did not understand his films half the time! I suppose we just enjoyed the simple lifestyle and company of each other.
Bookmarks designed by members of the Chung Ling Art Society. Top row, from left to right: artworks by Chan Kok Hooi, Sea Kean Eng, Sea Kean Eng; bottom row, from left to right are by Lim Mow Sern, Sea Kean Eng and myself. Calligraphy by Chan Kheng Hong
Members of the Chung Ling Art Society, image courtesy of Lim Meng Sin
Besides Saturday meetings, us ‘art fanatics’ would often have on-location sketching on Sunday mornings. We would excitedly set off in our motorcycles, giving our juniors a lift along the way as some of them either did not have a license or just had very strict parents. These experiences I had sketching with my friends are now memories that I hold very dear. It was a time of genuine happiness, as we focused on ‘playing’ more than serious drawing. It did not matter how ‘good’ we were, so as long as we were having fun.
It was then I fell in love with the practice of on-location sketching. This practice has become a habit that has stayed with me until this day.
Selected pencil sketches from the 1990s. Drawn in a Daler-Rowney A4 sketchbook.
Pencil & Graphite
I decided to pursue architecture after graduating from secondary school. I then became a little busier and was sketching less frequently. Thankfully, I could still hand-draw all my design sketch and even use watercolour washes in some of the presentations. My architectural training provided me with a deeper understanding of space and further informed my approach to drawing them.
After my degree, I worked as an architect for a little over a year before switching to the graphic design until this day. From 2001–2005, I made lots of graphite drawings of Penang, my hometown, in quarter imperial format (28 x 38 cm). Looking back at those works, most buildings and street scenes are no more. One of the more notable places is Sia Boey market, that now exists only as a collective memory among old Penangites.
Sundry Stall of Sia Boey Market, 2001, collection of Dr Choong Sim Poey
Sia Boey Market, 2001
Sia Boey Market, 2001
I think my drawings have become my way of keeping a diary. With no words, every drawing functions as a diary entry. As I flip through old works, memories of emotions, weather, and the occasional conversations with passers-by resurface in my mind and warm my heart. It always seems as though they just happened yesterday.
Demolished Thean Seng Tong Chinese Medicine Shop, 2002, collection of Lee Khai
Alley passes through Weld Quay and Beach Street, 2002, collection of William Ong
Experimental sketches collage, Fragment of Beach Street, 2005, collection of Penang State Art Gallery
After collecting a number of drawings, I held my second solo exhibition, My Sketches Diary in 2002 at Ching Lotus Humanist Space, Penang. I invited my teacher, the late Mr Tan Lye Hoe as my guest of honour.
One day, I had leftover long-format cartridge paper following a graphic design project. Not wanting the paper to go to waste, I decided to use it for sketching. I was immediately faced with a problem – I could not draw a complete street scene. All of a sudden, multiple dilemmas presented themselves: drawing the sky would mean giving up on the ground; drawing the ground would make the upper half of the street non-existent; I could always minimize the entire scene, but I would have to give up detail! This was all very challenging, and at the same time very exciting. My happy coincidence encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and think of newer, more dynamic compositions.
Yeap Chor Ee Building, drawn on yellowish leftover cartridge paper, 2007
I started asking myself questions and rethinking my approach to drawing. “Why must the whole of a building be drawn? I am free to decide what I draw!” That conclusion led to my mini epiphany – that ‘selecting and discarding’ (subjects) is more important than ‘filling up’ (the paper).
I began to take a new approach. I no longer started a drawing by sketching the entire building. Instead, I started by forming composition in my head before starting with a point on paper. I found it freeing to let my lines flow in all directions from a single starting point – from up to down, left to right, my lines endlessly changing and evolving. I was freed!
My hand could then follow my heart.
My first long-format Penang sketch, Kapitan Keling Mosque, 2009, collection of Lee Khai
I found my newly discovered method very fitting for depicting the street scenes of Penang. I made many drawings in a similar style during 2009-2010.
In 2009, I exhibited a series of long format sketches of Penang, titled Line-line Cerita, cerita meaning story in Malay. I also compiled drawings from several years and published my first book Sketches of Pulo Pinang. This would not have been possible without the help of my friends. My appreciation goes to Lee Khai for editing, to Tan Yau Chong for translation and proofreading, and to Lee Khai, again, Tan Lye Hoe, Tan Yeow Wooi, Khoo Cheang Jin and Ambiga Devy for contributing to the writing of the book.
Kiah Kiean’s accomplishments in art are expansive. Among the many are his streetscape sketches. He has a sensitive perception for buildings. With his exaggerated yet balanced form and his seemingly chaotic yet emotive lines, he brings the streetscape, especially old buildings, he sketches to life. Each modest or even dilapidated old building seems to come alive with vigour, proudly showing off.
Khoo Cheang Jin
But Kiah Kiean’s sketches are not direct, realist representations of the old buildings and street scenes of George Town. They are always imbued with his passion and affection toward his home city. By representing the buildings and street scenes with a twist, he is in effect expressing his affectionate impressions of his subjects.
In the sketches, Kiah Kiean embraces his subjects, be they buildings or street scenes, with strokes of thick and thin lines in so powerful a manner that the subjects are somehow twisted. Such an affectionate embrace of his subjects is always interesting and very often touching.
Tan Yeow Wooi
Dry Twig & Chinese Ink
Following the publishing of my book, I got into contact with a Taiwanese artist, Professor Carton Chen. Professor Chen is a retired lecturer from the National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan, and a co-founder of Urban Sketchers Taipei. In 2011, during my vacation to Taipei, I received a very warm welcome from Professor Chen and his fellow art friends. We immediately hit it off and started sharing about our own art practices. I remember Professor Chen telling me how he draws with an ink-stained twig. He explained how he stores his ink in a little jar containing a sponge for convenience, reducing spillage and improving ink control. I was fascinated.
The twigs I picked up during my trip and ink containers gave by Prof. Chen, I kept them as a little memorial
The following day, I went sketching in Tamsui District with some Taiwanese artists. During the session, I tried out Professor Chen’s twig pencil technique and fell in love with it instantly.
Guan Yin Mountain, Tamsui, 2011, drawn with Prof. Chen’s twig and ink
After returning to Penang, I made many monochrome sketches with dry twig and Chinese ink. I mostly used smooth surface paper in 2011-2012.
Light Street, Penang, 2011, collection of Ronald Wong
For more twig and Chinese ink sketches from 2011 and 2012, click here.
Last Christmas Eve, I was thrilled to receive a present from a faraway friend. Penang Black & White, a collection of postcards by Malaysian artist Ch’ng Kiah Kiean arrived in the mail. His lines are a rich artistic language that tells stories of old towns washed pale by time. His lines are dense in some areas and sparse in others, generating contrast and rhythm like the most beautiful melody.
Ung Vai Meng
To me, through the lens of Kiah Kiean’s drawings, I am able to see the lands and structures of Malaysia – the little tropical former British colony. Even though KK rarely draws people, it feels like I can see the little alleyways where different races live in harmony. It is as though I can feel little glimmers of life that peek through KK’s strokes of dense and sparse and dark and light. There is life in the window panes and roofing that provide shade and shadow, there is life in the cracks of the old, chipping structures that somehow possess a sense of grandeur. With a bold hand, KK presents both extreme precision and spontaneous transformation, creating a seemingly endless interchange of streetscapes and negative space.
雷驤
Eventually, I started to realise that smooth paper does not work very well with the ink-dipped twig as it lacks friction. My strokes were not very easy to control and it constantly seemed like my twig was slipping. I started using traditional watercolour paper, and I found cold pressed paper to be my favourite. I also prefer Saunders Waterford over other brands as the paper is yellowish, giving it a vintage impression. Besides, it is easily obtainable in Penang. Saunders has remained a personal favourite up until this day.
Eastern & Oriental Hotel, 2012, artist collection
When I started using ink and twig, the greyish tones in my drawing were created through either rubbing a blunted twig on paper or painted on with diluted ink. The blunted twig could only cover small areas. Though diluted ink could solve the problem I still felt it wasn’t enough.
Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Queen Street, 2013, collection of Jason Hsu
Close up of Sri Mahamariamman Temple, strokes of the blunted twig visible
I then gave myself a challenge. What if I managed to create a method with undiluted ink that could cover wide areas in greyish tones with controllable depth and contrast? The initial concept came from traditional Chinese brush painting’s cun-fa (皴法) a method using dried ink to paint mountains, rocks, and tree bark, creating textures and depth. After many experiments, I discovered I could create my desired effect with stiff-bristled stencil brushes that are dipped in ink then dried. I did it! I called this technique ‘dry-washing’.
Stencil brush and sponge covered in ink and left to dry, my simple tools for ‘dry-washing’
Artist statement edited by my good friend Song Gang for my solo exhibition Ink-Between.
I started using dry twigs and Chinese ink to draw in 2011, beginning with “dots” and “lines”, but I had to use diluted ink in order to achieve a grayscale “surface”. Later I found that the ink midtone surface can be achieved by rubbing ink with a dry brush on watercolour paper. I call this technique “dry wash”. With this technique, the drawing method with pure ink and twigs has become more complete. Ink-Between represents my dialogue with the traditional ink painting, with an attempt to re-think it and give it a new interpretation.
Ink-Between
King Street, 2016, grey area done with ‘dry-washing’, artist collection
For more dry twig and Chinese ink drawings from 2011-2019, click here.
Chinese Ink & Watercolour
It was a long and very much monochrome journey from graphite pencils to twigs and ink. At some points during these years, I have experimented with colours, only to find them difficult to control and easily overdone.
These are old sketches I did with pencil and light watercolour washes. Due to the paper being only semi-water absorbent, I could only use watercolour sparingly and quickly so as to not damage the drawing.
Goddess of Mercy Temple, Pitt Street, 2010, graphite & watercolour on paper, artist collection
Sometime in 2011, I started applying watercolour to my dry twig and Chinese ink sketches whenever suitable. Then, I used watercolours from secondary school that were long untouched. Most colours had already dried up, so I had to add water to it before every use.
India House, Church Street Ghaut, 2011, artist collection
Nine Emperor Gods Festival, Burmah Road, 2012, collection of Tan Thean Jin
Seeing five colours leave the eyes blind; hearing five sounds leave the ears deaf; tasting five senses leave the mouth numb
Laozi
Eventually, I bought a new watercolours. My artworks became a lot more colourful. They began to border gaudy, and I was confused. Laozi claims that ‘five colours make one blind’. It seems like my excessive colour usage has left my eyes confused and the focal point unclear. The rich pigmentation of my new watercolours has now covered the unique lines of my twig pen.
Tai Pak Kong Temple, Tanjung Tokong, Penang, 2012, artist collection
In the beginning, I blamed this failure on my watercolours being of too high a calibre. Eventually, after a sharing session by artist Ng Woon Lam on colour usage, I then realised my mistake was because I lacked understanding in colour application. My brushstrokes were not confident enough and a little too sloppy, resulting in colours mixing with each other, complicating the painting. I started re-learning watercolour. My colour usage became more minimal, and my strokes more confident.
Inspired by colour filters in photography, I also explored the possibility of selective colouring.
Pitt Street, Penang, 2017, collection of Brendan Navin Siva
Big Tree in front of Goddess of Mercy Temple, Penang, 2019, collection of Joyce Toh
During a workshop and trip to Paris in 2017, in an art store near the Pantheon, I stumbled upon ArtGraf, a brand of water-soluble graphite that was produced in Portugal. Its contents are similar to that of regular graphite, but it can be applied with a brush due to its water-soluble nature.
I had already come across ArtGraf product in Italy sometime before that, but it never occurred to me that graphite could be applied with a brush. I think simple solutions are often easy to overlook and sometimes, all we need is just a little pointer! Now, I use it together with pencils as I can have both the fun of pencil and brush.
My interest in graphite was sparked again. Only this time, I added ArtGraf.
Banyan Tree at Sia Boey Park, Penang I, 2019
Banyan Tree at Sia Boey Park, Penang II, 2019
The once-bustling Sia Boey market is now converted into George Town’s recreational park. Despite the change, the old tree remains constant.
As an artist, it is so common to be met with bottlenecks whether in terms of media, format, or subject matter. I believe this to be the artist’s challenge and daily homework. Every breakthrough should be celebrated, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. The artistic journey is one that has to be taken alone, as no one is as sensitive to changes in your artworks as you.
Below are my recent twig and Chinese ink drawings, some coloured. Here, I used a harder twig and thinned the tip to allow for more variations in thickness and line quality. This little change has allowed me to accommodate more detail in my drawings.
Shen Zhi Jia Shu, Church Street, Penang, 2018
Small Lane at Armenian Street, Penang, 2018
For more recent dry twig and Chinese ink sketches, click here.
Now, I select brighter and more transparent colours. When applying, I try to minimize brushstrokes as well.
Corner Green House, Armenian Street, Penang, 2018
Corner Joss Stick Stall at Goddess of Mercy Temple, Pitt Street, Penang, 2019
For more recent dry twig and Chinese ink drawings in colour, click here.
Conclusion
I believe my artistic journey of 30 years can be divided into three periodic timelines – Pencil & Graphite, Dry Twig & Chinese Ink, and Chinese Ink and Watercolour. However, this was not a linear process. In between there were experiments, there were failures, but thankfully all of them could be overcome. These 30 years are just a beginning. I am well aware I still have a long journey ahead of me.
Perhaps it is because I’ve lived on an island for too long, or that I’m not very adventurous by nature, whether it is studying, working, or making art, I have always stayed in Penang, my little island. It was sketching that brought me out of my comfort zone, allowing me to visit new places and make lifelong friends along the way. Writing about my 30 years of sketching seems to me like completing a huge diary, a diary dedicated to my homeland.
To the teacher advisors of Chung Ling Art Society, Mr Chai Chuan Jin, Dato’ Tan Chiang Kiong and the late Mr Teoh Leong Ban, the individuals I first had the privilege to be led by. Thank you for being my inspiration and foundation.
To my sketching buddies who I cycled with – Yik See, Mow Sern, Kheng Hong, Kheng Jin, Meng Sin, Hun Meng, Kean Eng, Guan Long, Chih Ning, Kok Hooi, Chin Soon, Siew Ho, Take Huat, Choon Ping, Siew Wai, Swee Aun, Chok Yan, Kar Keat, Seng Khiam, Fook Long, Kean Jin & Wei Teong. This journey started from you, from us. Thank you for your companionship, thank you for the memories I will forever cherish, and most importantly, thank you for making art fun for me.
Special thanks to Ryan Ng for your time and effort to translate this article.
Kiah Kiean has a keen eye for the essential details and essence of things, fortified by his architectural training at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang and his flair in graphic design. He is able to distill a chaotic street scene and reduce it to his now distinctive streetscape. Though his subject matter may be rustic buildings, his drawings exude an obvious elegance and stylishness which are most pleasant to the eyes.
Kiah Kiean’s love for the city and its heritage is conspicuous in this book. By representing the nooks and corners often ignored by the passer-by, he accentuates and thus elicits thought-provoking questions from the viewer of his works.
Kiah Kiean experiments with and explores all possibilities of expressing lines with graphite, giving his viewers much thought-provoking experience. As a direct approach to communicating with lines and tones he opts for just black and white sans colours so that his audience may enjoy his works without other distractions.
I had the privilege of getting to know Kiah Kiean when I curated his art exhibition at Alpha Utara Gallery in 2005. Since then, we developed a friendship which has been greatly augmented by our service as members of the Penang State Art Gallery and our participation in publishing four art books, him as the designer and I as part of the editorial team.
Though I know him only for five short years, I felt as if I have known him all my life, or rather, all his life, since I am the older one. Kiah Kiean had started drawing early in his life. I have seen his drawings from age five, through his primary, secondary and tertiary schooling years, to the present. His drawings show that he possesses a God gifted talent and I am impressed with how he made use of that talent, with hard work and persistence, maturing into the artist he is today.
I admired Kiah Kiean’s works since I first laid eyes on them. Kiah Kiean has a keen eye for the essential details and essence of things, fortified by his architectural training at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang and his flair in graphic design. He is able to distill a chaotic street scene and reduce it to his now distinctive streetscape. Though his subject matter may be rustic buildings, his drawings exude an obvious elegance and stylishness which are most pleasant to the eyes. All his sketches in this book were done plein-air i.e. on the spot, in the open air. None of them is drawn from photographic images. Artistically, Kiah Kiean has developed a visual language of his own, elegantly distorting his subject matter, ruling out the use of a ruler, and demonstrating clearly that he is not reproducing photographic images. However, Kiah Kiean has the habit of taking photographic record of his subject matter. On hindsight, this habit has become an invaluable historic record as a number of the buildings and places found in this book are no more to be found (as at November 2009, the buildings at pages 18, 19, 24, 25, 28, 29, 88, 105, 127, 133, 144, 145, 156, 157, 158, 159, 161 have since been demolished).
I am glad Tan Lye Hoe, Kiah Kiean’s art tutor and three of Kiah Kiean’s comrade in arms lent their support to this book by writing an article each. Tan Yeow Wooi is an acclaimed restorer of historic buildings, whose projects include the UNESCO award winning Han Chiang Temple. Khoo Cheang Jin, the president of the Penang Water Colour Society, is a practicing architect and artist who, like Kiah Kiean, has combined his passion in both disciplines to produce well sought after Penang streetscapes. Ambiga Devy is a fellow State Art Gallery Committee Member and a fervent activist for the arts. I also thank Tan Yau Chong for his editorial contribution.
It has been a great pleasure editing this book. This collection of Kiah Kiean’s sketches lent to itself without much effort on my part. It depicts the Penang we seem so familiar with yet in a very fresh manner. It showcases the Penang we love and preserves the face of Penang which is fast disappearing. This is a book for every Penang lover.
Lee Khai • Penang
The Power of Ch’ng Kiah Kiean’s Dreams
What makes Ch’ng Kiah Kiean he is today is his aspiration and passion for art. This double-degree holder – one in Housing, Building & Planning; the other in Architecture – departs from his professional training to become a successful artist and graphic designer, all because he believes in the power of dreams.
No teacher could be more proud than to have an illustrious student who wants to go where he wants to and be what he wants to be. He wants to be an artist so much so that at one stage when Kiah Kiean was under my tutelage in art did he declare that his first love was art.
As his tutor and mentor, I have never in any way doubted his intention as he has shown his talent, potential and love for this creative subject. Quiet and shy though he may be, he has on the contrary, displayed a sense of individuality and persistence to express his ideas in his own personal style although when he was in my class, he was always prepared to go though the mills, meticulously doing academic exercises, not leaving out any details in his studies of still-life.
Today, he has freed himself from all the academic inhibitions to take his own route to produce thought-provoking sketches with his sensitive line expressions. Though he might be modest in certain ways, I would say that he is definitely bold when it comes to art as is evidenced in his works in this book of his entitled Sketches of Pulo Pinang.
Kiah Kiean experiments with and explores all possibilities of expressing lines with graphite, giving his viewers much thought-provoking experience. As a direct approach to communicating with lines and tones he opts for just black and white sans colours so that his audience may enjoy his works without other distractions.
Through this approach he has displayed his strength and versatility in expressing a wide range of subjects from street scenes to buildings and from boats to houses on the sea-front, employing different treatment in styles where he has shown to be much at ease with constructive realism which is much reminiscent of his training in architectural drawing. However, that does not deter him from going impressionistic, even approaching the semi-abstract with expressive vigour and freedom, thus asserting his competence in this medium.
This fine collection of drawings put together by Ch’ng Kiah Kiean in one book Sketches of Pulo Pinang, is indeed a great accomplishment for a young lad and is so commendable for the high quality of the labour of love.
Tan Lye Hoe • Penang
A Burst of Powerful Lines
Those lines in graphite may look askew and awry, yet they are so bold, powerful and penetrating making you wonder if they are really by the hand of the quiet, shy and skinny Ch’ng Kiah Kiean.
When you come to know Kiah Kiean better, you will discover a volcano of artistic passion and creativity right beneath his gentle demeanour. I first met Kiah Kiean in 1996 in a public slide show organised by Nanyang Folk Culture, a local cultural group of which I was a key player. It was quite a pleasure to see an architecture student coming out of the campus walls to take part in arts and cultural activities. Soon after that, he became a stalwart of the group and together we organised many arts and cultural activities in which his multi-faceted talent and ability were brought into play.
Since high school days, Kiah Kiean’s creativity in painting had already surpassed that of his peers and even many artists who boasted to be professional. Besides painting, he is also adept at calligraphy, photography and graphic design.
The old Penang is one of the major themes of Kiah Kiean’s sketches. Born and bred in George Town, he has fond memories of and a strong love and concern for the heritage of the city. In the recent years, as development has caused much damage to the old cityscape, he walked the streets even more frequently in order to preserve the disappearing street scenes and buildings in his sketch book.
But Kiah Kiean’s sketches are not direct, realist representations of the old buildings and street scenes of George Town. They are always imbued with his passion and affection toward his home city. By representing the buildings and street scenes with a twist, he is in effect expressing his affectionate impressions of his subjects.
In the sketches, Kiah Kiean embraces his subjects, be they buildings or street scenes, with strokes of thick and thin lines in so powerful a manner that the subjects are somehow twisted. Such an affectionate embrace of his subjects is always interesting and very often touching. Not only being a burst of powerful lines, Kiah Kiean’s sketches are also a lively dialogue in black and white. The abstract and the concrete, the dynamic and the static, and the tense and the lax can always find their dialectic spaces in the visual dialogue, in which the spaces left blank always have a weight.
Now, having captured so many images of George Town with his graphite pencil, it is time for Kiah Kiean to share with the world his love for the heritage city. With all my heart, I wish his solo exhibition and the publication of his sketches collection a great success.
Tan Yeow Wooi • Penang
The Magician Who Makes Buildings Come Alive
In 1995 I returned from Singapore to work in Penang. I met Kiah Kiean on my first day at work sometime in May. He was then an attachment student at an architectural firm. Both the firms we worked with were in the same building. He was modest and reticent. I saw him almost on a daily basis but we did not interact much. A polite greeting was all we exchanged when our paths crossed.
I only found out about his love for art when he showed me his portfolio one day. Once acquainted, I realised we both share a passion for art and we were at different times active in the art society of our alma mater Chung Ling High School. Both of us were president of the art society. These common backgrounds brought us close together.
Since then, we interacted much in art. From the joint exhibition at the Syed Alatas Mansion in Armenian Street in 1995, to being involved in the activities of Nanyang Folk Culture and the Penang Water Colour Society. With some friends we set up the Ching Lotus Humanist Space at China Street. From sketching outdoor together to discovering the fun with digital photography together, the shy reticent young man is now the owner of a graphic design firm.
Kiah Kiean’s accomplishments in art are expansive. Among the many are his streetscape sketches. He has a sensitive perception for buildings. With his exaggerated yet balanced form and his seemingly chaotic yet emotive lines, he brings the streetscape, especially old buildings, he sketches to life. Each modest or even dilapidated old building seems to come alive with vigour, proudly showing off.
You would realise Kiah Kiean’s tidiness if you visit his office or his home, everything is spick and span, very much the image he projects of himself. The wild lines produced by his hand seem incongruous with his character. Perhaps that’s the real Kiah Kiean.
I wish him the very best for his third solo exhibition and the publication of this marvelous collection of his works.
Khoo Cheang Jin • Penang
Essence
Ch’ng Kiah Kiean has travelled a long way from the young person who honed his artistic skills under the tutelage of Tan Lye Hoe. Today he combines his architectural training and his keen, intuitive eye to produce works that can only be described as haunting in their depiction of a city in the transitions of change.
Taking a journey, very much with his father in mind, he has captured George Town with a stylish freedom in his lines and spaces, remembering the footsteps taken by his father – from the Swatow Lodge in Armenian Street where many of his Teochew clansmen frequented to the shop house where he stayed when he first arrived in the then Malaya – picturing a soul on its quiet journey, remembering and memorizing every tone and shade of that life.
Sentimental sweeping lines, sometimes colour washed, sometimes in shades of grey accentuated with black ink and different thicknesses of graphite, are used to create his expressions of streets, lanes, buildings and cityscapes with elegant style.
Here is an artist who also has a quirky sense of humour – look for his juxtapositional use of shop signage in his street scenes, be it in calligraphy or typography, often telling a story of its own. His depth of skill emerges with his use of improvised equipment like sharpened bamboo and chopsticks to get finer details when using Chinese ink.
Kiah Kiean’s love for the city and its heritage is conspicuous in this book. By representing the nooks and corners often ignored by the passer-by, he accentuates and thus elicits thought-provoking questions from the viewer of his works.
These sketches are also wonderful reminders of what George Town was and sometimes still can be today. A diary in graphite, they have captured the essence of childhood experiences in the streetscapes of his present life.