Chong Hon Fatt

Being 'Under The Sun' is Chong's greatest happiness in life and his radiant mantra becomes the tagline in his exhibitions and the core of his vibrant personality. His latest series captures Penang heritage buildings under the sun, in commemoration of its capital Georgetown being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Capturing light, colour, contrast and most importantly, feeling, is Chong's artistic key. Chong grew up being surrounded by buildings, and as a painter buildings became his main subject, especially heritage buildings. This interest has paved him many successful roads in his career.

The solid, Impasto brushstrokes and expert portrayal of colours in the Impressionist style give Chong's paintings the air of a mirage in a heat wave; as if seeing through swirls of rich and thick colours. Aptly, Chong is a plein air artist whose main artistic tool is sunlight. Without daylight, this veteran painter refuses to put brush to canvas, as he finds that sunlight brings out the true depths of colour so as to give his artworks its trademark sumptuousness. When he finds the weather conditions favourable, he then begins to paint up to hours at a time, becoming so engrossed in painting that he can lose track of his surroundings. This tenacity enables him to complete his artworks promptly.

Chong's career highlight is being commissioned to paint the Kaiping Diaolou brick watchtowers by UNESCO resulting in an exhibition titled Fortified Tower House, an experience that he truly enjoyed. He plans to continue travelling abroad to paint, especially to his favourite places and subjects: old cities and the countryside.