The Journey to Tembok journal with Chang Fee Ming came to be from a mutual love for the Island of the Gods, between YTL Hotels, who chose the village of Tembok as the destination for its first spa resort, and Fee Ming, who has explored its hidden beauty for years; discovering its secrets and stories while travelling through the island’s lesser known dirt roads and dusty tracks on a little motorbike.
A self-taught Malaysian artist, Fee Ming was born in Terengganu, Malaysia in 1959. He began his career in the early 1980s and has since become one of Asia’s most highly regarded artists working mostly in watercolour. His works are acclaimed, exhibited and collected throughout the world and have appeared regularly on auction at Sotheby’s and Christie’s since 1995.
Spending much of his time travelling, his main subject has been the people and places of Southeast Asia. Portrayed through an extraordinary grasp of texture and light, vibrancy of colour and composition, his work is suffused with pathos as well as beauty. He is currently based in Kuala Terengganu, although he returns frequently to Bali, his second home, and spends much of his time travelling through Asia. In his own words: ‘To travel and see and paint is for me a way of learning, part of my life philosophy’.
