Artist Biography

Graduated from the Malaysian Institute of Art (MIA) in 1970, Cheah is at the forefront of a unique approach in traditional Chinese ink painting – finger painting. Instead of brush, this medium requires the meticulous use of fingers to apply ink and colour to create gestural and expressive strokes for the subject matter, imbuing an impeccable sense of fluidity and vitality across the picture plane. Within this area, Cheah has established himself with an unshakable status in the Malaysian art scene. He is a mentor of the Cheah Institute of Art and the Malaysian Institute of Finger Painting.

Having held his first solo at the Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (1979), Cheah held further solos in Kuala Lumpur at Art House Gallery (1985), Le Beaux Gallery (1987) and Chin Woo Art Gallery (1998, 2002 & 2008), as well as other states including Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (1996) and Cheah Si Hock Haw Kong Kongsi Hall, Penang (2008). Cheah’s works were also exhibited at the National Art Gallery (1975), Taiwan Alumni Association of Malaysia (1978), Singapore (1990), Liaoning Provincial Museum, China (1991), Wuhan Art Museum, China (1992), Soka Gakkai Hall (2003 & 2004), Wisma Chinese Chamber of Commerce (2010), Oriental Art & Cultural Center (2011) and Wisma Fui Chiu, Klang (2014). Cheah’s works were selected and included in the publication - “Top 100 Chinese Finger-Painting Artists’ Artwork Collection” in 1992, which also won him special merit gold prize in China. In addition, a master in this distinctive technique, Cheah further provided eye-opening finger-painting demonstrations which were recorded by a Korean video troop (2001) and TV2 channel (2004).