Artist's Biography

Yeow Teck Chai (b.1950) lives and paints in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. His work integrates painting and pencil/ink pen sketches, using watercolour as his main medium. His approach to art prioritises intuition, light, and the fluidity of colour. He is primarily self-taught, having had no formal art training apart from art classes in school.

Born in the small town of Kuantan, his flair for drawing started during his early kampung years. As a mischievous youth, he once drew an enlarged five ringgit note and tried to use it as currency at a coffee shop. Later, he focused on the human physique with his monochrome sketches of runners and dancers, and portraits of his children.

After graduating from University Malaya in 1974, Yeow joined the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA), where he spent the next 32 years of his career. He became well-known for his monthly comic strip “Durian Talk” in the MIDA Club’s newsletter - a series of comically serious discussions among a group of durians about Malaysian matters.

Yeow revived his love for painting post retirement in 2006. Also a passionate cook, Yeow would invite friends home for a meal, where they soon discovered a veritable treasure trove in his portfolio of paintings. Demand soon grew for his paintings, with friends commissioning pieces of a favourite scenic landscape or portraits of loved ones and pets.

In his free time, Yeow enjoys listening to music, golf, and cooking for his family.