LEONARD SIAW ATTEMPTS NATIONAL RECORD

Published date: 15th February 2022

Leonard Siaw’s first solo show is at La Promenade Mall.

KUCHING: Leonard Siaw, the mural painter best known for ‘The Last Ring Ladies’ at Padawan and ‘Coolie Keng’ at Kuching Old Bazaar, is attempting a record-breaking piece at La Promenade Mall.

Siaw is attempting a national record. The canvas and frame, which are wider than two terraced houses, are custom designed and made.

The artist has begun work on a giant canvas that is 15m wide and 5m tall — wider than two terraced houses combined and taller than a one-storey building.

“I’m as nervous as I am excited. I want to do something truly special and out-of-the-ordinary for my first solo exhibition,” Siaw said.

Siaw’s solo show at the mall was originally slated for December. “But the more I spoke to Hock Seng Lee (HSL) and Hoan Gallery, the more ambitious we all became. This could end up as Malaysia’s largest canvas painting.”

Siaw has postponed other commitments to focus on the La Promenade project. He estimates the canvas painting will only be done after six months.

Hoan Gallery proprietor Kee Huang said: “It’s going to be a great personal achievement for Siaw and something, I believe, that will be an important piece for Sarawak’s art scene.”

Siaw and Hoan are working hand-in-hand on the project. The duo has photographed about 60 members of the public at the mall, workers at construction sites and oil palm plantations as references.

At this point, Siaw is not revealing the artwork’s details like subject matter, other than the size.

HSL property admin manager Shirley Loo said the art piece’s frame and canvas were custom designed and built.

“No canvas is 15m wide in Kuching. It’s so big. We even called up suppliers as far as Penang, but, in the end, it had to be custom built-to-order,” Loo said.

Siaw’s art is found across Kuching, including ‘Symphony of the Tinsmith’ at Carpenter Street, ‘Sampan, the River Taxi’ at Jawa Street and ‘The Lane Hawkers’ at Kai Joo Lane.

In 2019, Siaw, who is largely self-taught, was invited to paint a mural at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo, and painted murals at Melbourne’s Wall to Wall Festival.