Self-portrait
THE PRODIGY
At the relatively young age of 17 years, Malaysian-born portrait artist Gavin Chai will hold his first solo exhibition at the Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa in May this year. This follows outstanding achievements in winning both KG Fraser award (best in show) and the gold medal (most successful artist of the show) at the 2014 Royal Easter Show. Gavin also had a painting selected as a finalist in the 2014 Adam Portraiture Award and placed with the nation-wide touring exhibition. In this article Gavin tells how the work of the old masters inspired him to create and pursue a career as a professional artist.
I started drawing and painting when I was 12 years old and trained under an artist in Malaysia where many materials such as oil paints and acrylics are in short supply. I was only taught how to use pencil, watercolour and oil pastels.
