It is no accident that Cheong Tuck Wai’s works are couched in grainy silver gelatin tones simulating photographs, as his ooh-so-nostalgic memories are about departures, disappearances and loss. ‘Linger’ (in 2016), the title of his dedicated solo at HOM Art Trans as part of the prize for winning the Malaysia Emerging Artists award in 2013, arrayed loved ones (late grandmother on rattan rocking chair) and objects like his father’s old TV set from his (father’s) hometown in Batu Arang, for an autobiographical mish-mesh. His techniques used include image transfers and a bit of PhotoShop. The other part of the prize, which had four other equal winners, was a 10-day intensive visit to art centres and icons in Bandung and Yogyakarta in Indonesia. Cheong had a Diploma in Illustration (2001) and Fine Art (2004) from the Dasein Academy of Art, KL, where he now teaches part-time. In 2003, he won the Malaysia Nokia Arts Award and 10 years later, his biggest, of US$10,000, for winning the Gold Award (Established Artist category of the UOB Painting of the Year, with his work titled Homes.