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InspirationArt & Culture

Hong Yi loves to paint, but not with a paintbrush

Hong Yi, who goes by the nickname ‘Red’, is a widely recognised Malaysian artist and architect.

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Artist Hong Yi arranges small stones on white paper in an alley to create a portrait using everyday materials

She was given the nickname because her name, Hong, sounds like the word ‘red’ in Mandarin. Red’s grandparents and father left Shanghai, China in the ’60s during the start of the Cultural Revolution and moved to Malaysia where she was born and raised. Growing up, she heard stories about life in China, but never imagined that one day she would find herself going to China to work.

After graduating from university in Australia, she took up an offer to work for Australian architecture firm HASSELL in their Shanghai office and was completely taken with the city. The city’s contradicting charms and chaos inspired her to start creating art using local everyday materials as her medium. Here is just a small selection of her works.

Image Credit: Hong Yi

Artist Hong Yi crouches beside her portrait made from gravel and pebbles arranged on a white canvas on an urban alleyway
Hong Yi and collaborators work on a large-scale drawing using pebbles arranged on pavement, viewed from above
Portrait created entirely from sand particles arranged on white paper to form a bearded man's face
Coffee stains and spillages on white paper with a white cup and plate containing dark liquid arranged on the surface
Hong Yi paints with coffee, using a cup and brush to create artwork on white paper
White ceramic cup filled with cinnamon powder surrounded by scattered spices and natural materials on a textured surface
Portrait of a bearded man wearing round glasses and a cap, created with brown and gold circular bubble patterns
Abstract portrait composed of torn brown and gold textured paper fragments arranged to form a face against a cream ornamental wallpaper background
A portrait created with blue and white paint surrounded by hundreds of small blue circular objects with lit candles arranged across the surface
Artist Hong Yi in a red cap leans over a large blue and white artwork, painting with her fingers as scattered white materials and brushes lie on the dark ground around her
A hand uses a lighter to ignite candles embedded in a blue and white mixed-media artwork on a flat surface
Malaysian artist Hong Yi stands beside a portrait made from blue and white circular objects arranged to create a face in profile
Hong Yi's large-scale installation featuring suspended white paper scraps creating abstract patterns alongside a portrait made from stacked materials on a dark gallery wall
Hong Yi's large-scale skull artwork made from black and white objects arranged on a narrow alleyway, with helpers working on the piece surrounded by brick walls.
Two people on ladders hang white and black paper strips from clotheslines strung between brick buildings in an alleyway installation
Woman in black clothing posing beside two large pixelated face murals made from small objects on a brick alley wall
Artist Hong Yi crouches beside a large white canvas on the ground, creating red brush strokes using unconventional materials in an urban alleyway
Artist Hong Yi working overhead on a large-scale portrait created in red paint on white paper, with paint containers and reference images visible nearby
Artist Red Hong Yi stands above a large white canvas painted with red materials in the shape of a face, surrounded by a basketball, paint containers and brushes on a grey pavement
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