Batik by Chuah Seow Keng

Chuah Seow Keng is recognized as one of Malaysia’s leading artists and is very well known for his batik and watercolour paintings. Born in 1945 in Kelantan, Malaysia, Seow Keng now makes his home in Penang. In 1968 he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Suddeutsche Kunststoff-Zentrum in Wurzburg, Germany. While attending this academy he specialized in fiberglass sculpture, a difficult, but rewarding art medium. While being recognized as an accomplished sculptor, Seow Keng is also acknowledged as a masterful batik artist. His abilities as an artist were noticed at a very early age. He was exposed to the art of batik painting by his father, the renowned artist Chuah Thean Teng, who pioneered batik painting as a fine art form. Seow Keng excels in this intricate art technique and was chosen to demonstrate his batik skills at the International Freundschaftheim in Buckeburg, Germany. During 1974 Germany’s Television Channel Zweites-Deutsches- Fernsehen-Trans-Tel made a documentary film of Seow Keng and his brothers who demonstrated the art of batik painting for German viewers.