ABOUT MEI YEN

Ch’ng Mei Yen (1973) —whose name coincidently means ‘beautiful swallow’—specialises in painting birds.

Using acrylics to create her pieces, Mei Yen paints her subjects in admiration for their ability to “come and go, [and] fly from one place to another freely”. She believes that birds will always make an appearance in her artwork, even if she explores different ideas in the future. She enjoys working with colours.

While Mei Yen spends the day working at a multinational company—with more hours spent outside work—she prefers to see herself as a full-time artist. She started painting at a young age and continued to paint for fun while studying for a degree in Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

She was later inspired to embrace her love for art after seeing some friends leave their jobs to pursue their passions. However, the real ‘push’ for Mei Yen only came after a passing of a friend made her reflect on her life.

In 2003, she decided to take her art more seriously. At present, she balances painting with her work commitments, and believes that making art is something she will do for as long as she can.

Her works have been exhibited in KL and Penang. As a member of the Penang Art Society, she also takes part in their annual exhibition. In 2017, she had her first solo art exhibition in Penang.

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