Endless fascination with koi

Inspiring: Zubair with one of his paintings at the exhibition.

Koi fish have a long and honoured association with East Asian culture and fine art. Symbolising prosperity, wealth and abundance, these fish are prized in homes for their beauty and association to those virtues.

Attempting to capture the beauty of these creatures, Zubair Afandi Omar has been creating koi art pieces for the past few years using a unique combination of new and old media, namely photography and canvas.

Zubair, also known as Zhi Long Shen, is currently holding his second solo art exhibition titled Zhi Long Shen: Inspiration at the Universiti Malaya Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. The exhibition features over 30 pieces of koi art.

Painstakingly recreating life-like impressions of koi, Zubair takes thousands of images of his subject matter in their habitats, overcoming hurdles such as water reflection and glare.

He then translates these images on to canvas using acrylic and airbrush techniques. The result is a painting that not only embodies fluidity and grace, but fish that seem almost alive.

One is reminded of sitting at the edge of a pond with koi fish swimming around gaily in a tranquil park. Even the flow of water on the fishes’ scales are captured onto canvas. Everything is filled with dynamic movement and vivid colours.

All of Zubair’s pieces tell a story and are inspired by his life experiences. “I want to bring positive messages through my art,” he said. “For example, Protector was inspired by myself being a father of three children and head of my family, while My Love is an abstract representation of my akad nikah ceremony,” he explained.

Other pieces such as Happiness describe the feeling of being in love with his wife, and True Friends which is a homage to friends who have supported him throughout his journey.

As a child, Zubair had always been fascinated by the colours and movement of koi fish, especially from the Nishikigoi (Japanese brocaded carp) breed. This love for koi continued into his adult years. Initially, he wanted his own koi pond. However, after seeing many friends lose their prized fishes because of its high maintenance and vulnerability of the fish, he gave up on the idea.

He decided to look for a life-like koi painting to be placed in his home instead. Searching for the perfect art piece to decorate his home turned out to be difficult, as most paintings in the market were static, lacking in action and movement.

Dissatisfied with the way koi was depicted in art, Zubair set out to create his own pieces at the age of 37, with no prior professional art training. It took him months of research and practice to perfect his photographs, and then transfer them onto canvas.

That was five years ago. The 41-year-old engineering consultant by profession has come a long way, slowly earning praise for his unique artworks. The process of creating a painting takes about three to four weeks, sometimes even up to seven weeks. “I create my pieces in my free time. It is usually late at night after everyone is asleep,” he said. What started off as a hobby soon turned into something bigger, as friends praised the paintings put up in his home.

With the support and encouragement of friends and family, he had his first solo exhibition at the Metro Fine Art Gallery in February 2012 and Zubair took on the name ‘Zhi Long Shen’, given by his sister-in-law, which literally translates to ‘Dragon Lord’. To-date, Zubair has painted over 180 art pieces.

“Art is a passion. We have many artists in Malaysia who are not exposed to the international market. Art collectors out there have yet to see our local artists talents,” said Zubair.

He hopes to showcase his artworks in what he dubs “the centre of culture and art, where East meets West” — Dubai. Most of the paintings on exhibition are for sale, ranging from RM7,500 to RM25,000.

The Zhi Long Shen: Inspiration exhibition will be held until July 3 at Level 5, Universiti Malaya Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur. It is open to the public from 9.30am to 5pm, Mondays to Fridays. Admission is free.

-thestar online.