Malaya

Bio:
Malaya was born in Hong Kong and spent her childhood in San Francisco, where she studied art and graduated with a BA in Art History. She then relocated to Asia where she continued her studies at the Hong Kong Arts Centre while exhibiting locally. A decade later, Malaya returned home to the Bay Area
where she continued to paint while graduating with an MA in Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy.
Following her first solo exhibit, “Zero to Infinity” at the California Institute of Integral Studies, she joined the Society of Layerist painters, and participated in their “Fire in the Heart” exhibition at the Schneider Museum in Ashland, Oregon. After extensive travel and a long hiatus from exhibiting, Malaya returned to live in Berkeley. Her paintings are held in private collections in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Artists Statement
My paintings are predominately directed by a desire to reveal a more universal dynamic. Initial gestures free the canvas, followed with erasures and a muted palette to evoke a meditative atmosphere inviting discovery. I credit my influences to the early Abstract Expressionists and Far Eastern art and philosophy.