Elephants are a main subject in the lively paintings of Yusof Gajah. Filled with vibrant colours, the artist draws the viewer into an immersive fantastical world, where elephants playfully form the letters of the alphabet from A to Z. The artist received his education at the Indonesia Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta, and whilst studying, met Indonesian artist Widayat who became his mentor. Yusof Gajah is one of the nation's foremost naive artists. An award winning writer and illustrator, Yusof has an affinity towards elephants (gajah means elephant in Malay), and has published several children's books with these gentle giants playing the lead role. The artist was awarded the Grand Prix, Noma Concours for Children's picture Book Illustration by ACCU in Tokyo, Japan in 1997. Aside from his art, he was also an educator, conducting workshops on children's picture books, as well as being actively involved in storytelling and children's literature. His international solo exhibitions were held in Japan, Norway, Sweden, Indonesia, and Thailand.