Taiping is my hometown. It is where I was brought up, where my early love for art began, and where the memories and experiences of my childhood continue to live within me.
In 1970, I left Taiping to study in the Department of Drawing and Painting at the Glasgow School of Art. After graduating, I chose to remain in the West and pursue my dream of becoming a professional artist — to make art not simply as a passion, but as a way of life, earning my living through the creation and sale of my work.
Over the years, my artistic journey has taken me far from Taiping. I have travelled, exhibited and established my life and career in the West. Yet Taiping has never ceased to be my home. Many people in my hometown and in Malaysia have followed my artistic journey through newspapers, magazines, television, social media and other forms of media, but very few have had the opportunity to stand before my original works and experience them at first hand.
The Hock Aun Teh Gallery of Modern Art is my way of changing that. Set within a home, this is a private, intimate gallery — perhaps one of its kind in Malaysia — dedicated exclusively to my own paintings, drawings, sculptures and other works of art. Rather than creating a conventional public museum, I wanted to bring my art back to the place where my journey began, and bring it closer to my own people.
For me, this gallery is not merely a collection of artworks. It is a connection between my people and me, between my past and my present, and between Taiping and the wider world in which my artistic life has unfolded. Above all, I see it as my small cultural contribution to Taiping and to Malaysia: a way of giving something back to the community that shaped the person and artist I became.
Visiting
The gallery is currently a private, home-setting gallery and is not open to the general public on a daily basis. Visits may be arranged for art groups, students, educational visits and genuine art lovers by prior arrangement. Admission is free.
“I hope that, through this little gallery, my art can return home — and that those who visit may not only see my work, but also share a little of the journey, memories and spirit behind it.”
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