About Art by Poh

The Artist Behind The Girl

Before the world knew me as a TV cook, before MasterChef, before the cookbooks and the shows, I was, and have always been, an artist first.

My name is Poh Ling Yeow, and for over two decades, I've been telling stories through paint. Stories of belonging and not belonging. Stories that live in the space between cultures, in the tender ache of displacement, and in the fierce beauty of finding yourself exactly where you're meant to be.

From Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide: A Journey in Colour

When my family left Malaysia for Australia, I was nine. I was a fifth-generation Chinese Malaysian, carrying centuries of heritage in my bones, suddenly transplanted to Adelaide's wide streets and foreign skies. Those early years shaped everything: the confusion, the longing, the desperate desire to fit in, and eventually, the profound realisation that perhaps fitting in was never the point.

After earning my Bachelor of Visual Communications in Illustration from the University of South Australia, I worked as a graphic designer and illustrator. But in 2002, something shifted. I needed to paint. Not just create, but truly paint, to pour out all the complexities of identity that words couldn't capture.

Meet The Girl

You'll find her in almost every canvas: The Girl with the dark, foreboding eyes. People often ask why her eyes are so intense, so mysterious. They're meant for you to see yourself in. If I gave her complete features, you'd know her entirely, and there would be no space for your own story, your own wondering.

The Girl began as a confluence of everything I once detested about myself as a migrant kid. Every feature that marked me as different: the broad nose, the Asian eyes, the wide face. All the phenotypes that made me feel alien in my new country. But after painting her for over twenty years, she's taught me to love all that made me feel outside of 'normal'. She's my autobiographical twin, my cathartic companion, my way of turning shame into strength.

The Art of Not Belonging

My work is almost always figurative because I'm an illustrator at heart: I tell stories. The Girl finds her tribe among mythical animals, befriends giant owls, and runs through ancient Chinese ink painting landscapes. Sometimes she morphs into a half-creature, sometimes she stands alone, more certain of herself as an individual entity. In my recent works, there's an emphasis on light: how it plays on skin, how it illuminates not just form but feeling.

I work primarily with acrylic on canvas, ranging from intimate 100cm squares to commanding pieces 700cm tall or wide. My unique brush technique has been described as having an airbrushed effect, though every stroke is deliberate and precise. The colours I use span from soft, diffuse pastels to bold blacks and stark block colours, each choice driven by the emotion of the story being told.

Beyond the Canvas

You might recognise me from MasterChef Australia 2009, where I was the runner-up. Since then, there's been "Poh's Kitchen," "Poh & Co," "Adam & Poh," “Snackmasters”, and a return to MasterChef as both contestant and now judge. I've written four cookbooks and won an AACTA Audience Choice Award. My greed for life experience has always made me creatively adventurous, willing to invite change.

But here's what matters: I don't call myself a chef. I'm a cook who happens to paint, or a painter who happens to cook. Both are acts of creation, of transformation, of love.

Art That Invites Understanding

I reject the notion that art should be hard to understand or relate to. My work isn't about exclusion or elite interpretation. It's about finding solace and strength, about recognising yourself in unexpected places. Whether it's The Girl running through mythical landscapes or standing fierce in her solitude, these paintings are invitations to see, to feel, to belong in your own unique way.

Most recently, I was honoured to be Illuminate Adelaide's 2023 principal artist. The largest installation on the Malcolm Reid Building spanned 36 metres: "Tender & Fierce Is The Hole You Left," a dedication to my Mum, Christina. Creating that work while processing grief showed me again how creativity is our most faithful companion through life's complexities.

The Story is Never Complete

Every painting holds space for mystery, for your interpretation, for the parts of yourself you bring to the viewing. As I've always said: "The story of a painting should never be complete."

My corporate collectors include BHP Billiton, Borrelli Walsh Hong Kong, and Lipman Karas Adelaide. I've exhibited at Hill Smith Gallery, Libby Edwards Gallery, and venues across Australia since 2002. But beyond the accolades and exhibitions, what matters most is this: creating work that speaks to anyone who's ever felt on the outside, culturally, spiritually, mentally, or physically.

Bringing Art Home

Today, from my Adelaide studio where I live and work with my dogs amidst creative chaos and garden experiments, I continue painting The Girl's evolution. Each piece, whether an original work or a limited edition print, carries a piece of this ongoing story of transformation, belonging, and the beautiful complexity of being human.

Browse my Original Art and Limited Edition Prints to find the piece that speaks to your story.