Sharmiza Abu Hassan is Malaysian artist who graduated from the MARA University of Technology in Shah Alam with a Bachelor in Fine Art. She comes from Taiping in Perak where she was born in 1972 and is among the few female Malaysian artists who is known for her sculpture works and the more 3-dimensional visual works. After her degree years, she has been actively involved in the Malaysian art scene and in 1999, she was awarded a scholarship to Sharmiza has won numerous awards for her exemplary works in the arts that include the scholarship to pursue her postgraduate studies. As a student, she was in the Deans’ List in the faculty while she also won the Best Student Award. Apart from that, she also won the Minor Award in the National Art Gallery’s Young Contemporary Art Competition, a finalist in the Malaysian Maquette Stage during the 3rd Oita Asian Sculpture Competition and the Honorable Mention at the Philip Morris Art Competition as well. In 2001, she was awarded the Young Lecturer Scheme Scholarship while she again emerge a finalist at the 6th Oita Asian Sculpture Competition.
Apart from that, she also previously won the Juror’s Award at the 2004 Young Contemporary Art Competition. Among her involvement in art exhibitions are the ‘Warisan Melayu :Tradisi & Inovasi, Kongres & Ekspo Warisan Melayu’ by UiTM, the ‘WWF,Paradise Lost Paradise Found’ show held at the Rimbun Dahan Gallery and the ‘Alegori Ledang’ show which was her first solo exhibition held at the Maya Gallery in Kuala Lumpur.
Apart from that, her works were also seen at notable shows like the ‘Wahana – Malaysian & Singaporean Artist’ show organized by the National Art Gallery, the ‘Formative – Contemporary Sculpture Exhibitions’ at Valentine Willie Fine Art as well as in Australia at the ‘Echoes of Dreams’ in Spark Gallery of the University Of Wollongong while they have also travelled to the Singapore Art Festival, the HotBath Gallery in Bath, the Atrium Gallery in London at the ‘Light and Reflections, Contemporary Malaysian Art’ show and many more.
Sharmiza Abu Hassan – Kias Secawan Kopi (Installation)
Using stainless steel, mirror and glass, the Kias Secawan Kopi installation is one of the few thought provoking works by Sharmiza. It makes the viewer think about what Sharmiza is trying to convey because the title depicts the ‘analogies of a cup of coffee’. As with most installation works, Sharmiza offers a different perspective to what the viewer would think because it is more about the message than the subject matter which Sharmiza has done so well here.
