Self-taught, versatile and humble, Cheung Pooi Yip’s dedication to his art reached its zenith when he was awarded a Retrospective in 2014 by the Penang State Art Gallery. To paraphrase his own statement on the occasion of his Retrospective, he said, in effect: “The journey in art is a boundless road. I pursue a passage with constant transformations based on my personality and training, to explore and expand on the mystery of art, searching for truth and beauty.” Born in Penang, he moved to Sungai Petani to take care of the family frame-shop business, which was only good to get by. But he keeps up a disciplined regime of painting, exploring and experimenting with techniques in his studio and has become known for his patternised drybrush strokes with parallel lines as forms in the 1980s, and with later use of palette knife. His favourite angle is the aerial or angled perspective. Though he delves mostly into abstracts, his earliest works were of squat figures typical of the time. In 1981, he won 1st Prize in the Bata national art competition. In later years, Pooi Yip enjoys going on painting trips with his groups of artists friends in Europe and Asia, with his wife in tow.