Outsider is the alter-ego of a person who has a strong appreciation for the Arts, yet will challenge the norms, traditions and styles of what constitutes the term fine art. Besides his primary responsibility as an educator, he is an avid art collector, a musician, a painter and a great supporter of the local Arts scene. Outsider is basically a self-taught artist, and he is greatly inspired and influenced by artists such as Picasso, Bill Traylor and Yunizar. In his student-years, he followed the usual and “expected” education route, and graduated with degrees in the Sciences and Finance. He started his own art training, more than 30 years ago, by copying comics, sketching and caricaturing. Now under the guidance of Ken Chang, owner of Y2ARTS and an art scholar from the University of Reading, Outsider works in a different mode creating works that strays from the technical norms and dimensions occupied by most artists.

“A painting speaks a thousand words.”

In “Narration”, Outsider literally “adopts” this saying by employing a radical abstraction and tedious technique of using texts and fonts. The spontaneous use of the “handwriting” technique is a reflection of the artist’s inhibition of conforming to tradition. The works are composed, often, of gibberish and illegible scribbling, and his free play of texts, shapes and lines come together, evolving into a sense of rhythm, pattern and meaning. It is also the artist’s metaphorical way of adding some elements of cynicism into his creations. He employs bright colours as a hint at our desire for all things new, shiny and bright; but his embedded darker narratives used in his works forces us to perceive things a little differently. 

“Narration” features a unique collection that focuses on life. Believing that life is precious, Outsider takes us on a melancholic journey of how we have taken it for granted. He uses subjects and words that are simple and recognizable but presented with a distorted view; and beneath the seemingly simplicity lies a deeper theme.Extinction, solitude, stress, or materialism, are the narratives that are often used in the concept for each work.