Eng Tay is one of the most established artists in Malaysia. He was born and raised in the northern state of Kedah in 1947 where he received his early education. In 1968, he went to New York City in the Untied States where he studied at The Art Students League where he graduated in 1972 from the School of Visual Art in the area of graphic design. After that he was working in this field where he went on numerous painting trips to South America and Indonesia.
It was in these trips that Eng Tay developed his body of work based on what he saw and experienced. He depicted the images of the society he saw like family gatherings, markets, daily rituals and such into his paintings and began working on his own artwork. From there, he had exhibitions and gained recognition internationally including shows in Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong as well as in New York and in Malaysia too.
Eng Tay’s Body of work:
His work is very much in the likes of paintings while he is also involved with sculpting and etching and encircles a lot of family oriented images. It is in his ability to transform his skills in graphic design which applies more contrasting and flat colours onto the canvas that makes his work stand out. Generally, a lot of his past works deal with human relationships which give the viewer a lot of room to relate to. He is known to bring current and contemporary issues into his work while using his very personal style of painting into play, a technique that not many artists today possess.
Influence: In his own words, Eng Tay said that he uses what he knows, seen and experienced to be the bridge between the past and the present. He said that he is now more involved with self-expression and not too much in the elaborated and complex constructions which pretty much explains the simplicity of his paintings. He is still residing in New York City and is still very much active in the art scene both in the United States and abroad. It is in his multicultural experience which usually form the basis of what he demonstrates on the canvas.
