Chong Siew Ying's bold figures have opened new vistas into the exploration of painting. Her portraits often depict enigmatic smiling faces which form an essential part of her artistic language. Rich in expression, this panoramic image presents figures merged seamlessly against a backdrop of a pristine beach landscape. What animates the self is humanism, thoughts and emotions, inhibitions and dare, hopes and fears. Chong Siew Ying's art-career path is one of grit, determination and serendipity. Many would have stayed put after a Graphic Design diploma at the Petaling Jaya College of Art and Design. Instead Chong hightailed to Paris, where she worked as an au pair, to support her art studies at the L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Versailles (1991-1994) and L'Atelier 63 (1994-1996), and with solos at the Maison Tch'A, Atelier d'Maravel and Gallery Café Panique, to boot. On her return, she won an artist's residency at Rimbun Dahan, and later the Fremont Fellowship at Vermont Studio Centre, United States. In 2002, she won the Special Award in the Young Contemporary Artists (BMS) competition and in 2009, was a finalist in the Hong Kong Sovereign Art Prize.