Fakhri Bohang. Indonesian. 1988. Libra.

I have been interested in art since I could remember. I have scribbled, doodled, drawn on every possible surface when I was a toddler. I was hugely intrigued by colors and shapes and naturally had been an avid fan of rainbow. I was a huge fan of disney art (back in the day when they produced the 2D animation) especially the beautifully painted background. I remembered I distracted my father when I perpetually asked him where I could get a transparent layer.

I started drawing when I was in kindergarden. It did not make sense to me why my art teacher (then) had a certain "methodology" to produce a drawing. I guess ever since the rebel seed started to grow in me. Instead of the cliche scenery of mountains and clouds and sun that my peer in the kindergarden was taught to draw, I drew some other objects: medusa, purple ladies, cruella de vill, waterdrop on a flower, and etc. My grandmother used to have this beautifully sculptured table with ornate relief at the bottom, I think it was extremely beautiful especially the shadows that it made due to the sun light. Since then I have been challenged to emulate the darker tone to create the sensation of shadows on a flat surface.

I thought school was utterly boring when I was in primary school. I have never been interested in anything linear, orderly, for me it doesn't seem organic. For me it is not life. Thus, I've never quite paid any attention on my multiplication table. I remembered I failed my first mathematics test in my first grade because I doodled the test paper with drawing of underwater objects.

I was a big failure in school until my sister introduced me to mind mapping. Since then I have a non-linear and a lot more artsy approach to school subjects. And so I was no longer failure.

I graduated from one of the major universities in Singapore (You have one out of few chances to get it right) majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I guess my endeavor to art started again when I managed to sell a few of my artwork (acrylic on canvas) in Switzerland when I did my technical internship there. It was a big encouragement when my very first buyer asked me to write "an artist statement" on a piece of paper.