KUCHING, April 16 ― Drawing inspiration from a traditional herbal tea shop in Padungan here, home-based mural artist Leonard Siaw Quan Cheng is currently working on his third masterpiece near the Tun Jugah Shopping Centre, which he expects to finish within a month.
Renowned for “The Last Ring Ladies” mural at Mile 10 Kota Padawan, titled “Dayung Hmaui Semban” (The Beautiful Ladies of Semban), the talented 37-year-old Kuchingite discussed the current project’s genesis when approached by Kuching South mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng.
“I was provided with a grant to kick start this project given the substantial budget required for its completion,” Siaw told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said he anticipated that seven of his murals would be featured across the Padungan area as a result of collaborations between several parties.
“This collaboration involves the Kuching South City Coucil (MBKS), Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, and me.
“The goal was for me to complete all seven murals by the time of the Kuching Festival Food Fair celebration, running from July 26 until August 18.”
So far, Siaw has adorned Padungan with two captivating murals, a fraction of his ambitious seven-piece project.
His initial masterpiece features 82-year-old Goh Beng Choo, revered for her “ang ku kueh” (red tortoise-shaped glutinous rice snack filled with sweet mung bean paste) located at Lorong (Lane) 16 of Jalan Padungan.
His second captures the exhilarating horse-racing scene, complete with the jockeys in vibrant details, at Lorong 12 of Jalan Padungan.
Talking about his designs, Siaw said his drafts and ideas were reviewed by the relevant ministry before he began any work on the murals.
“The draft could be a rough sketch or images that I purchased online to ensure that they did not belong to anyone ― to avoid copyright issues.
“I’m not restricted to specific images or themes. As long as my designs do not involve controversial issues, I’m good to proceed.
“The murals, or what I refer to them as ‘street art’, that I do depict the histories and stories of this street and the inspiration comes from the people here, including a friend of mine who studied the life in this area.
“I gather my information from him.
“I would dedicate my time to the people whom I would paint, to get to know them better. But to start, I must obtain permission from the building’s owner where my murals will be painted on,” he elaborated.
On his current mural project, Siaw said the proposed name of the third artwork would be “The Famous Liang Teh”, but this might change upon the completion of the project.
“The challenges of painting this outdoor mural include the weather, as well as the foundation where I set up the aerial work platform.
“I only work during the day with paint specially formulated for exterior walls,” he said when talking about the process.
In clarifying the red markings on the wall on his current project, Siaw described it as a technique called “doodle grid”, which he picked up from his participation at the “Wall to Wall Street Art Festival 2018” in Benalla, Australia.
“The red markings that people see on the wall serve as guidelines for me to paint.
“It differs from the grid method that I’ve used before. It is not vandalism as some may perceive it to be,” he clarified. ― The Borneo Post
