Ep 2: Red Hong Yi - A Malaysian Artist Who Paints Without A Paintbrush

Today’s guest is Red Hong Yi – a Malaysian architect turned
full-time artist known for painting without a paintbrush! One of
the sweetest, friendliest and most talented people I know and am
privileged to call a friend.  





You might have heard of her or seen her work displayed somewhere,
whether in publications like the South China Morning
Post, Straits Time, Prestige, artventures
with Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia, or more recently
on Mashable about her “I Am Not A Virus” 2020
series. 



Who is Red Hong Yi?

Hong Yi grew up in Sabah, which is located on the East coast of
Malaysia (yay, East Malaysians!). We discuss what her childhood
was like, her influences, and the kind of art she did.





Fun fact: In her pre-teen years, Red Hong Yi used to draw comics
with her friends and “rent” them to her classmates for RM 0.10
until their teacher called them out for it because it was
distracting everyone from UPSR exam preparations (a pivotal
national exam in Malaysia that students take before entering
secondary school)!



Working as an Architect

While she had a desire to go into art, and even once dreamt of
working for PIXAR, she decided, in the end, to study architecture
at the University of Melbourne. 





Upon graduation, she moved over to Shanghai and we talked about
what that was like. The people, the culture, and again, the
entrepreneurial spirit that was so prevalent among the youth of
Shanghai! And how those influences, including an important trip
to Yiwu International Trade Market, resulted in her friend
filming a timelapse video of her Yao Ming portrait. 





Quite unexpectedly, her portrait of the famous Chinese NBA player
went viral and was picked up by the likes of NBA and Gizmodo.com!



Pivoting into Art

While this craziness was happening, Hong Yi was still working at
her architecture firm, HASSELL. 





Soon after, she received a call from Michael Hawley who invited
her to the EG Conference (who wrote the commencement speeches for
Larry Page & Steve Jobs amongst others!). This conference
proved to be a huge turning point for her as she became exposed
to people doing incredible things, including other artists,
musicians, astronauts, and chefs. 





Her parents also attend the EG Conference and as Hong Yi put it:





"So they (Hong Yi's parents) came with me and that was when they
realized that, Oh, my daughter is not that crazy after all. There
is a room filled with crazy, you see?"



The Artist Who Paints without a Paintbrush

Soon after, Hong Yi decided to quit her job as an architect to
give art a shot. And we discuss what those initial days were
like, the financial considerations and how she decided on the
kind of “brand” she wanted to be. 





Her trademark approach to art is painting without a paintbrush
and she achieves this by creating mixed-media installations
by reinterpreting everyday materials through the accumulation of
objects. By combining traditional craftsmanship and digital
technology, she creates work that considers perceptual habits and
preconceptions on the chosen objects and subjects, expressing the
themes of women and race.



Achievements to Date

Needless to say, she has achieved extraordinary success! 





And her work has been exhibited at H Queens in Hong Kong,
the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, World Economic Forum in
Davos (the Teh Tarik Man!), and Anchorage Museum in Alaska.
Collectors of her work include JP Morgan Chase Bank and actor
Jackie Chan.





Her art has also been featured in publications
including Wall Street Journal, TIME, and New York Times, as
well as in JP Morgan Chase’s commercial campaign, “Gift for
Baba”, in 2018 where she performed the leading and critical role
of artist. She created an artwork made of tea leaves and that
commercial was aired throughout North America during some of the
biggest sporting events of the year including Super Bowl LII,
which was viewed by 103.4 million viewers, and the 2018 World
Cup, which was seen by an average of 1.98 million viewers per
game.





Hong Yi has spoken in conferences around the world, including EG
Conference in California, the ASEAN Young Entrepreneur’s
Conference in Beijing, TEDx in Kuala Lumpur, and in institutions
such as Domus Academy in Italy, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts in
Shanghai, and the MIT Media Lab in Boston. She has been offered
art residencies at 18th Street Art Centre in Los Angeles and
the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai in 2020.





Sotheby’s Institute has named her one of the “11 art world
entrepreneurs you should know”. Tatler Magazine has named her one
of Asia’s most influential voices in 2020.



How did she do it? What’s next?

Hong Yi’s journey has been anything but conventional and I loved
how we went deep into the behind-the-scenes of what it took to
get to where she is, including: 


How she put together some of her most popular work including
the Teh Tarik Man and the Jackie Chan bamboo stick
collaboration;

Where she gets her inspiration from;

Who “gave” her name “Red”;

The role of social media in her work;

How she charges clients for her work;

The realities of being your own boss & why that might not
be for everyone (and that’s ok!);

Striking a balance behind taking on work for financial
reasons versus artistic inclinations;

Creating impact behind her work;

How COVID-19 has affected her & how she stays connected
with other creatives like Von Wong (another guest on the STIMY
podcast); 

Collaborating with other local artists back in her hometown
of Sabah; 

What it takes for someone to succeed as she has; and

What the future holds for her.



External Links


You can reach Red Hong Yi via
her blog, Facebook and Instagram 






For the show notes for this episode, visit
https://www.sothisismywhy.com/episode2/