A study on visual poem in Malaysian art since 1990s until 2019 / Khairunnisa Mohd Abdul Ghani

Poems and painting carry their individual functions portraying personal expression of feelings. In 1971 after the National Cultural Congress was held, poem-oriented paintings have been elevated by local painters as a way to appreciate the efforts of Usman Awang in introducing this medium. Poem is modern Malay literature that has drawn the attention of several painters in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to elaborate and understand intellectually the form and content of poem-oriented painting. This study adopts the qualitative descriptive method. Judgmental sampling strategy has been used in which researcher select six paintings drawn based on poems from the artist’s collection and some of them were taken from catalogues. This research aims to identify the elements and principles as well as the concept of these paintings. The content analysis method was used for this research. The data collection gathered through one-on-one interviews with the artist, field-notes, audio materials and documents. To understand the meaning (content) behind the sample of painting using Feldman arts criticism and formalistic analysis. The finding establishes that painters used colours, lines, unity and dominance to interpret their poems in an abstract, semi-abstract, naturalism or surrealism approach. They not only capture their appreciation on the beauty of the poems alone but they also deliver messages on life and religion. In conclusion, the findings of this study must be viewed as a form of awareness in the efforts to sustain the poem-oriented paintings and ensuring that it will always be given due attention and become a guiding force to local artists in their search for an artistic identity of their own. It is hoped that from this study, the new generation of artists will preserve the elements of literature especially poems in their art activities.