Jayson Yeoh from Malaysia has not been through formal art school training, but through his strong passion, he has used his life to make art ever since he was young.

“I have always felt that being self-taught is not an easy thing; and creation of art is even harder! In my art journey, there are both joys and challenges. I’ve learned things through trial and error and realized that the ups and downs of my art life are nutrition for my creative process and nourishment for my life. These encounters have helped me to grow and solidify my determination to continue moving forward. I have always been loyal to myself on this road, whether it was during the realistic style at my beginning stage, or during the semi-abstract style now. I like to create according to my heart and not allow my creation to be fixed by a boundary. I mainly use transparent watercolor, but oil paint is also one of my favorite mediums.

As for the subject matter, I have started to paint some natural scenery, street scenes, and buildings, apart from the usual fishing boats and villages. Maybe I will try other subject matters in the future as my life experiences, knowledge and skill level increase. My hope is for my works to evoke a strong emotional response in my viewers and a mutual understanding. To me, a creative work should not be just an artist painting a picture only, but it should be a dialogue between the artist and the work, an artist with himself, and also an artist with the viewer. Art should possess the ability to communicate, and I hope that my work can open up this conversation so that viewers can understand the story while participating in it.”