Dialling in from Penang, Malaysia, Trina Teoh begins by first affirming her craft as a text-based artist before she is anything else. While words are her medium, she sees her work as much more accessible than the potentially lofty label of ‘poetry’ might suggest. “There is a certain prestige and so much nuance tied to poetry. I don’t see my work as poetry,” she says.
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Teoh relocated and spent a chunk of her teenage years in Arkansas, USA. She describes the move as “overwhelming”. “Everything was so new, and adapting to a new culture at 14, not knowing anything was hard,” she says. But she was quick to adapt, developing a passion for words that led to her choice of study: creative writing at California State University, Northridge in 2016. “I had dreams of working in the film industry,” she says.
This was the path she started on, landing a role as a full-time script reader in Los Angeles after graduating. However, life took an unexpected turn when, unable to secure her visa for the US, Teoh was forced to move back to Kuala Lumpur in 2018. Despite the upheaval, her transition from dreaming of scriptwriting to becoming a text-based artist unfolded naturally upon her return.
Teoh’s work is one done with intent: to awaken the consciousness of written art, keeping it alive and accessible through direct language and straightforward prose. She delves into themes of romance and states of yearning, with works such as Are You Coming? (2022) implying the desire for a lover to show up for her; while It’s Just Us (2022) and Are We Creating Something New? (2023) both invite the viewer into intimate conversation.
She intends her works – painted on walls, fences, signs and panels throughout Kuala Lumpur and Penang (she lives between both locations) – to be viewed by people like her father. This focus has opened her work up to many who may not otherwise consume art, catching their eyes as they rush past on city streets. “My father is just a regular businessman,” she says. “He doesn’t indulge in poetry the way avid readers or appreciators of art might. I do this for him and everyone else like him.”
Street artistry, while frowned upon by some, is a growing scene in Malaysia. For Teoh, painting her work on zinc panels alleviates the “permanent damage” that she would be enacting onto the facades of buildings. As she puts it, should anyone feel the need to remove her work, it can be done easily by either painting it over or simply replacing the zinc panel. This, in a sense, makes her work ephemeral.
When she started out as an artist, her prose was shared on her social media channels – three or four lines typed out and sent into the digital ether. When her closest friends urged her to display it for the world, she began to frame her work through the lens of art. She has since held exhibitions in art spaces around Malaysia and one at The Holy Art Gallery in London.
Teoh says her foray into street artistry happened by “osmosis”. “Hanging out with street artists such as Ernest [Zacharevic] and Tee Bai, who display their works on the streets all around the country, led me to do the same,” she says. “It was a natural unfolding of events.”
She credits Zacharevic and another artist friend Sheena Liam (whom she met in Los Angeles and has been friends with for the past 10 years) as pillars who have helped to shape her art into what it is today. They have yet to collaborate on a project together, yet the three are always helping each other with their individual work.
While not outwardly reflecting traditional Malaysian artistic tropes (such as hibiscus motifs or batik patterns, for example), Trina believes her work and that of her contemporaries fully embody the country’s contemporary art scene. “There is no need for our work as Malaysian creatives to have motifs that resemble where we come from,” she says. “Our work already does that, and it is loud and clear.”
Trina Teoh’s Favourite Cultural Spots To Visit In Kuala Lumpur & Penang...
- Urban Museum Of Kuala Lumpur (URMU) – This quirky contemporary art museum features 10 unique themed art spaces.
- Blank Canvas – An independent contemporary arts platform and exhibition space in Penang, featuring artists including Ernest Zacharevic.
- Hin Bus Depot – A creative community hub in Penang that showcases local artists and hosts cultural events and craft markets.
- Mee Tarik – The place to visit in Kuala Lumpur for hand-pulled noodles in beef soup.
- Narrow Marrow – An eclectic cafe in Penang that hosts art exhibitions and live music performances.
Pravin Nair is a Kuala Lumpur-based writer, poet and photographer whose work has appeared in publications including Mulazine, Lampoon Magazine, and Grazia Malaysia
