We all can get obsessed with painting our faces with makeup, but Seng Hoo takes a whole different turn with incredible transformations. He can transform himself to anyone he likes, with a stroke of a paintbrush.
Hello Seng Hoo! Tell us more about yourself!
I’m a face and body painter and a student currently pursuing my Master in Child Psychology. I’m a son, a brother, a friend, an uncle… shall I go on? I spend a good amount of time at bookstores and Starbucks, I enjoy watching horror films and scaring people, I love eating pizza more than anything else in the world, and I’m the descendant of Jack the Ripper. Jokes!
Meet Seng Hoo, behind of all the paint layers on his face!
Tell us your journey as an artist! When did you first discover your passion for painting?
I started out doing photography when I was 18 as a creative outlet and I’ve always enjoyed making my models look ‘artistically creepy’ so it involved a lot of fake blood and ideally making them look tired and emaciated. I had to learn how to use makeup like black eyeshadow to make their eyes looked sunken in or lipstick to make fake cuts. Then I started watching more YouTube tutorials, creating darker and more intricate looks for photoshoots, which is when I found out about face paints. I didn’t know where to get them at first so I started experimenting using poster colors (bad idea to apply on your face!) then I found cheap face paints that came in tubes in a set which were also terrible materials to work with, until I moved onto using the better quality products I use today. But unfortunately my artistic expression is limited to body painting for now. I do paint acrylic and on a proper, non-human canvas every now and then, but it doesn’t give me the kind of joy painting on bodies because I get to transform people and myself into abstract representations of human emotions or monsters from my fantasies. But I wouldn’t say that I have a passion for painting alone, but more towards into making and creating art as a whole. I don’t know how to appreciate artworks like the Mona Lisa or paintings by Van Gogh besides commenting they’re aesthetically pleasing or just ‘nice’. The show ‘Art Attack’ planted and nurtured the creative bone in my fat body. When I was younger, I did a lot of art projects at home inspired by the show using empty shoeboxes, card boxes and any kind of boxes really and always wanted to create something, no pun intended, out of the box. I was also always distracted in class because I spent my time drawing a fantasy comic book, doing creative and poetry writing, and even making my very own creation of battle card games that my friends really enjoyed playing with. Hey, creativity isn’t limited to just art and making art! Despite my shenanigans, my mum was and still is very supportive of my siblings and I exploring different interests, and she told me that I was a very curious child growing up, and with that it produced this compulsion to always wanting to learn and experiment with anything and everything under the sun including music and language, but art was the only recreation that I enjoyed and stuck with me.
Tell us your body painting essentials!
Definitely body paint, duh! I rely heavily on my trusty Elianto and Urban Decay eyeshadows for softer applications and colours, and various makeup products like lipstick and eyebrow pencil from NYX Cosmetics. When it comes to using makeup, I try to avoid buying expensive products since I don’t wear makeup at all in my daily routine. If you talk about rituals before and after painting, I’d cleanse my face, put on moisturizer and face primer so the paint doesn’t block my pores and apply my favorite Burt’s Bee lip balm since I paint for an average of 2 to 3 hours and I tend to forget to drink whenever I paint. When I take everything off, I indulged myself in a mask from Innisfree and body lotion from Crabtree & Evelyn.
In your words, what is art? What do you think of the creative scene in Malaysia?
In the creative makeup and face painting scene in Malaysia thus far, from what I’ve seen on Instagram, I realized many of them just copy off looks online or YouTube tutorials without giving proper credit to the original artist which is a low move. I know very few local creative face and body artists that come up with their own materials. One of the biggest problem I find is their obsession of getting responses and ‘likes’ and double taps on social media which for me questions their intentions and integrity of joining the community in the first place–whether it’s for fame, recognition, or a hobby they truly enjoy doing. I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with the art scene in Malaysia especially growing up I’ve always preferred to work alone so I never bothered mixing with other people who were potentially creative and artistic. But now that I’m older and learned the importance of exposure and networking, I have noticed and attended more local events, workshops and competitions celebrating all types of art like performing arts, poetry reading, and even scrapbooking and journaling! There’s also a growing amount of features of aspiring young artists on different publishing and social media platforms. I believe that the art scene in Malaysia has always been actively around, just that it wasn’t widely appreciated and I think the needed attention for local art is slowly developing, but not for the artists themselves. The artwork gets noticed, but not the person who did it. It really is what you define ‘art’ is. It’s so important for people to understand that when a person engages in any type of artistic expression, it is what they perceive as ‘creative’ and ‘artistic’ which can range from cooking to carpentry to even plumbing, and it is not limited to just paintings and drawings.
Any upcoming projects for you?
I’m currently sketching out ideas and working on a ‘Heart Series’. I take great pleasure in drawing and painting the human heart so I wanted to incorporate different characters with exposed heart like someone with a broken heart or forbidden love being depicted by a heart locked in chains. I’m also in the process of writing a book, which is a major working progress. I’ve sent my manuscript draft to 2 publishing houses thus far and I’m waiting for good news, hopefully! Besides that, I have been trying to get into making tutorials and reviews on YouTube but my partner and I lack the equipment needed to film so that too is progressing at a pace of a snail.
Where can we find your work on social media?
I never see the point of having so many social media platform so you can only find my work on my Instagram at @senghooooo
What is a typical day in your life?
During the weekends and days that I don’t work, I usually start my day with a cup of coffee and some strawberries and an avocado and scrambled egg toast, then I log onto YouTube and Tumblr for an hour or two before I get productive like attempt to complete my assignments, painting, reading, or go back to sleep. And pretty much a lot of trip to Starbucks.
What are you passionate about?
Is love for pizza considered a passion? Despite that I paint and I write, I think I’m most passionate about working with adolescents who are depressed and suicidal in the future when I become an accredited psychologist, and hope to make contributions to decrease the level of stigma Malaysians have about mental illness. Frankly I wouldn’t call my hobby in painting a ‘passion,’ because I also do it as a side job like birthday parties and Halloween events. When you’re getting paid to do something that’s a passion, you tend to feel like you’re doing it for other people, not yourself. There were many occasions where I had to take a break from painting because I didn’t feel like I was doing it for the sake of satisfying my creative self. The worst thing about being an artist is handling nonconstructive criticisms. You’ll hear useless comments like, “You’ve done better” or “Not my favorite”, which irks me because I painted them for myself (some on personal levels) and not for you so why are you giving me an input that serves no relevance and wouldn’t help to improve me as an artist. The truth is, I don’t see myself having a career as an artist. It’s not because I’m afraid of the stereotypically depicted struggling life of an artist or that it’s not a stable job, but really it’s because I find it’s not my true calling.
Any life mottos?
Sadness is like swimming with an anchor in shallow waters; release the weight and stand up to see that you’re not drowning.
Any idols that you look up to?
If you talk about idol like someone you admire and look up to, probably my mother. I know it probably sounds very cheesy to say this, she’s one of the most resilient person I know and the way she develops optimism after all the hardships make me wanna strive better in life because I know someone on a close level that’s going through life so much worse.
Who is your all time inspiration in life?
The singer Birdy. A lot of my ideas, painting or writing, come from listening to her songs. Her music puts me into this sardonic and imaginary world that I cannot describe.
What is the ideal weekend for you?
Spontaneous road trip somewhere far away with pizza.
Tell us what makes you smile the most?
Pizza, crude jokes, and people who remember the little things about you.
Where do you see yourself in 2 years’ time?
Either working as a child psychologist in the pediatrician department in a hospital somewhere or becoming a psychology lecturer while doing research and work with orphans.
Other than his amazing artwork, Seng Hoo totally nails the flatlay game!
