Chuah Seow Keng

Chuah Seow Keng is recognized as one of Malaysia’s leading artists, best known for his batik and watercolour paintings. Now based in Penang, he received a scholarship in 1968 to study at the Süddeutsches Kunststoff-Zentrum in Würzburg, Germany, where he specialized in fiberglass sculpture. Although trained in sculpture, he gained wider acclaim for his mastery of batik as a fine art medium.

Keng was exposed to batik from an early age by his father, the pioneer artist Chuah Thean Teng. Then he refined the technique into a highly intricate and expressive form. He was invited to demonstrate batik at the International Freundschaftsheim in Germany, and in 1974 was featured in a documentary by Germany’s ZDF television, which showcased him and his brothers presenting the art of batik to an international audience.