ALL ART IS aesthetic and, more often than not, supposed to look good. But art can also serve others and contribute to the advancement of the community. That is the philosophy behind award-winning Penang artist Sumay Cheah’s installations, often constructed as immersive portals of art and ambience.

Since 2017, this commercial artist has worked with museums, galleries, airports and hotels throughout Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Under her brand, Other-Half Studio, her first two creations were launched at the Rainforest Music Festival and George Town Festival 2017. Not a bad start for any aspiring artist.

Eight years and 24 installations later, Cheah has bagged the Singapore Good Design (SG Mark) Award and Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award 2024 in the Experience Design and Spatial Design categories. The winning artwork was OH!Tenang, an immersive space held at Gurney Plaza last year that combined sight, scent and sound to create a play sanctuary.

Calm, Culture and Nature

Over the years, Cheah’s style has moved away from frenzied, maximalist patterns to calmer zen-inspired compositions. Even her materials have changed; from hard surfaces like mirror panels to soft drapes and weavable bamboo. This year, she worked on the second iteration of OH!Tenang, dubbed CeritaB ayang-Bayang, a ten-feet high lantern that played with light and shadow concepts. Located inside Mano Plus on Beach Street, Penang, the octagonal-shaped lantern was built entirely from bamboo sourced from the Temiar, Perak’s Orang Asli community, then draped with hand-dyed indigo fabric and decorated with 3D-printed wind chimes made from bio-degradable filament.

“I challenged myself to make the lantern out of 100% natural materials,” says Cheah, who used only bamboo dowels and natural joinery. “I made the base structure modular so it could be repurposed. I also worked with psychologists to study non-triggering colours to create a sense of calm.”

But though her colours and materials may have changed, the DNA of her art has not. Cheah has never forgotten her Peranakan roots (her grandparents are Thai and Chinese-Peranakan), her love for light and shadow (she took a black and white film photography elective in university), and championing child-friendly exhibits (after becoming a mum of two).

No One Left Behind

“My artistic career only began after I had children,” says the Convent Green Lane alumna. “Going to museums, I always found them to be artefact-heavy and not child-friendly. If we’re trying to connect the past, present and future, we have to cater to kids. Adults are the now-generation who are already appreciating art, so why not incorporate good user experience for all?”

Apart from children, Cheah’s artworks are now intentionally inclusive for the elderly, wheelchair-bound, visually-impaired and multiracial communities. This means high-contrast large-print guides, including descriptions in Braille, English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil on all her captions.

“Art is for everyone and no one should be left behind,” Cheah says, recalling a recent collaboration with St. Nicholas’ Home Penang. She recycled Braille paper by turning them into origamis of pygmy elephants and green turtles—these species are endangered in Malaysia—then sprayed them with an Aesop scent, and hung them from the ceiling with organic cotton strings.

“I’ve always believed in universal design, and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to include others,” says Cheah, explaining that inclusive design involves talking to the right people and inviting them to test your proof of concept. “There’s a lot of green talk out there, but if you don’t involve communities in the process, the design won’t work.”

With OH!Braille Origami, Cheah chose two animals with strikingly different shapes so it would be easier for the visually-impaired to feel the difference. “I love creating spaces that embrace everyone,” she says about her effort to break down barriers in the industry. “I hope that through my art, no one stands on the outside looking in. Everyone belongs.” 

A Force For Good

Cheah is currently working on her 25th installation for a festival in Kuala Lumpur. In Penang, her permanent artwork can be seen at the lobby of the Penang Marriott Hotel. OH!Campur features a series of Peranakan ceramic sculptures suspended on a wall on both sides of the waiting area, and at the entrance of the Italian restaurant, Kucina.

Aside from her recent awards, Cheah’s Convertible Desk Box project was also selected for Singapore’s Design for Good Initiative 2020, winning a mentorship to invent a cardboard desk for underprivileged children stuck in housing flats throughout Covid-19.

“I’ve always been a big fan of origami, so I came up with the idea of a folding desk that children could assemble and take down in three easy steps,” explains Cheah, who is a member of Design Business Chamber Singapore. “It was space-saving, eco-friendly and served as a portable container for their homework. They can decorate the brown box if they want to—I also put a waterproof layer on the surface, combining creativity and practicality.”

A Way of Life

Cheah’s next project will take her to Seoul, and there seems to be no stopping her artistic momentum. “All artists grow and change,” Cheah admits. “I cannot guarantee you that my art will look the same in the future, but I can say that I’m always on a learning curve and wanting to make the world a better place.”

She continues to derive inspiration from nature and Japanese ethos, looking to architects like Shigeru Ban, Kengo Kuma and MUJI design advisor Naoto Fukasawa. “From them, I learnt to understand the materials I’m working with, how to accentuate them, use them for the right purposes and create intuitive designs.”

“I’ve grown so much in understanding myself, and my works reflect the life lessons and experiences I’ve been through,” she says, believing that art is a way of life and that artists do not have to limit themselves geographically to find inspiration or to succeed. “We don’t forget our roots, but we don’t have to label ourselves either. Art is universal and we are all humans, all global citizens.”