Art by Poh
Poh Ling Yeow was first a professional artist before becoming a household name as a nationally beloved TV cook. She does not call herself a chef. She admits her greed for life experience has always made her creatively adventurous and willing to invite change. She is the author of 4 cookbooks and continues to work dynamically in Australian TV in many capacities - as a host in food but also makes frequent guest appearances in non-food related shows.
Poh began her art career as an illustrator and for this reason, her work is almost always figurative. She likes to tell stories of belonging, or rather the feelings of not belonging, a struggle common to the human condition. She hopes her work invites understanding. She rejects the notion that art should be hard to understand or relate to. She wants viewers to find solace and strength in The Girl and her unlikely companions.
Poh mainly works with acrylic paint on canvases that span from smaller 100cm square canvases to ones 700cm tall and or wide. Her style is precise and distinct. Early in her career, The Girl often appeared as a toddler, a lost orphan who finds her tribe among mythical animals like giant owls or in gentle friendships with Australian birds. At times, she has morphed into 1/2 creature as seen in “Half Bird” and “Lost II” and in another series, is seen running through the ancient landscapes of old Chinese ink paintings, a stranger in her Mother land. Now The Girl is a little more grown up, more sure of herself as an individual entity. There is an emphasis on light and how it plays on skin, in the new works.
It is often asked why The Girl has such dark, foreboding eyes. Poh says “They are meant for you to see yourselves in. If I gave that away you would know her completely and there would be no mystery for you to wonder about. The story of a painting should never be complete.”
The colours she uses range from soft diffuse pastels to bold blacks and stark block colour and her unique brush technique has been described to have an airbrushed effect.
The Girl began as a confluence of all the features Poh detested on herself as a migrant kid in Australia. All the phenotypes that made her feel like an alien in her new country but after over two decades of painting her, Poh feels she has love for all that made her feel outside of what was ‘normal’.
Who is Poh Ling Yeow?
You might recognise Poh from the very first Season of MasterChef Australia 2009 when she came second runner-up. Since then she has had three seasons of her own ABC show “Poh’s Kitchen”, two seasons of ABC’s “Poh & Co”, two seasons of “Adam & Poh ….” on SBS, a subject of “Australian Story”, hosted two seasons of Network 9’s Snackmasters Australia and competed a second time in MasterChef “Back To Win” in 2019. In 2020, she won an AACTA award for “Favourite Contestant of the Decade” and is now on the panel of four judges on Network 10 & Endemol Shine’s international juggernaut.
Fifth-generation Chinese Malaysian, Poh Ling Yeow spent her early childhood in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before moving to Adelaide, Australia at the age of nine, where she now lives and works. Poh Ling Yeow has a Bachelor of Visual Communications in Illustration from the University of South Australia. She began her career as a graphic designer and illustrator then later exhibited as a painter since 2002. Her corporate collectors include BHP Billiton, Borrelli Walsh, Hong Kong & Lipman Karas, Adelaide.
Most recently Poh was invited to be lluminate Adelaide’s 2023 principle artist. Collaborating with Electric Canvas Poh designed major light installations that graced five historical buildings on Rundle Street. The largest of the light installations on the Malcolm Reid Building spanned 36m, titled “Tender & Fierce Is The Hole You Left” was a stunning dedication to Poh’s Mum, Christina who had passed away a short while prior to the show. She spoke of what a godsend the exhibition was in helping her to process her grief and how grateful she is to have creativity as a constant companion.
In conjunction with the festival, Poh held a major print retrospective of thirty-six works and five new original works in, in The Lightroom, which was a sell-out success.
Poh Ling Yeow Artwork Exhibition History
2011 - Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
2009 - Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
2008 - Recent Works, Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2007 - Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne - Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
2006 - Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide - Group Show, Libby Edwards Galleries, Brisbane - Recent Works, Solo Exhibition, Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2005 - Recent Works, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide - Sydney Art Fair, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide - Group Show, Libby Edwards Galleries, Sydney
2004 - Recent Paintings - Solo Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide - Recent Works - Solo Exhibition, Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne - Melbourne Affordable Art Fair (Dickerson Gallery) - Sydney Affordable Art Fair (Hill Smith Gallery)
2003 - December Collection - Hill Smith Gallery - Framed Food - Yalumba Harvest Market Group Exhibition, Barossa Valley, SA
2002 - Recent Paintings - Solo Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery
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Poh's art style can bring style, story and elegance to your home. Browse Poh Ling Yeow artwork online. Her Original Art and Art Prints Limited Edition, can be purchased directly from our online store.