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Artist Bio

A self-taught artist, an associate professor in the field of architecture at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (http://www.utm.my). Interested in exploring the hidden forces in the natural and man made environment. My art works are inspired/driven by man-environment relationship based on my research works on human behavior, my personal experiences living in a rural village, and my academic studies on urban environment of Malaysia. Most of my paintings are attempting to explore the truth of the natural and man-made environment that is the existence of genius loci or the spirit of places in them. The “spirits” are at work, organizing and monitoring, but they are often unrealized by almost all of us. They are there in the setting, often visible and real. It is the spirit that makes the environment alive and meaningful. Only the meanings of the places are perceived and may exist in abstract forms. It is the spirit that makes us attached to the places.

The development of the concept was initially inspired by Paul Klee’s line works, which were interpreted by the author of “Design of the Cities”, Edmund Bacon. He argues that “Orders” that exist in our environment are not necessarily realized, felt or discovered. But they are at work all the time. They exist in various forms. They may directly or indirectly be interpreted, or explained.. Nothing is left unorganized by the “order” because “Yang tiada itu ada" (the nonexistent actually exists). I later developed a conceptual expression using pen lines and patches of colours to resemble a chaotic situation, hoping that the organizing forces can be perceived by observers. Just like how one may perceive a forest environment which is full of different artistic elements such as lines, colors, textures, and what not.

Only when we critically analyze the setting will we be able to recognize the spirit of the place. It is the same way as when we observe our urban environment. It is not an easy task to realize the important forces that make our places meaningful and valuable to us. Therefore many of us – including those who are regarded as our scholars – are willing to disregard or even to destroy them.

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