Artist Biography
Yap Chee Keng (b. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is a visual artist whose practice centers on repetition, labor, and the embodied act of mark-making. With a background in interior architecture and fine arts, his practice integrates spatial structure with repetitive, embodied processes, forming a distinctive visual language grounded in line and accumulation.
Working primarily with a carpenter’s ink marker, he constructs dense fields of interwoven lines that unfold as a durational process. These lines function as records of time, endurance, and physical engagement. Through repetition, Yap transforms simple gestures into a meditative yet demanding act, where body, tool, and surface become inseparable.
His compositions oscillate between control and excess—ranging from tightly compressed structures to more open, breathing spaces—reflecting shifting states of tension, fatigue, and persistence. Color operates as both a visual and cultural register, contributing to layered spatial experiences that extend beyond the personal.
Yap completed his Bachelor’s degree at Tunghai University and obtained his Master’s degree from the National Taipei University of the Arts. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Art, Design and Creative Media at New Era University College.
He has held solo exhibitions at venues such as Hsinchu wòwò Aesthetics, King Car Cultural & Art Center, and New Taipei City Arts and Culture Center. In 2024, he was selected for the residency program at Rimbun Dahan.
His work has been recognized by several major awards, including the UOB Painting of the Year (Established Category, Highly Commended Award, 2023), Bakat Muda Sezaman (Jury Award, 2022), E.SUN Awards (International Category – Outstanding Award, 2022), Next Art Tainan Award (2021), Nanying Award (2020), and the Silver Medal in Oil Painting at the National Art Exhibition. He also received the Incentive Award at the Pameran Terbuka Galeri Shah Alam (2022).
Yap currently lives and works in Malaysia. His ongoing research and practice investigate how repetitive actions generate meaning, positioning labor not as mere production, but as a sustained condition of being.