Red Hong Yi

Red Hong Yi is a contemporary artist who has established herself as one of Southeast Asia’s emerging artists over the past seven years. After a career in architecture, Hong Yi’s foray into art has led her to commissioned projects by brands such as Google, Facebook and JP Morgan Chase, exhibitions at H Queens (Hong Kong), Design Miami (Miami, USA), Anchorage Museum (Alaska, USA) and World Economic Forum in Davos. In 2018, Hong Yi was named one of the “11 Art World Entrepreneurs You Should Know: 2018 Edition” by Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Hong Yi’s unique approach to image-making through everyday materials has been featured on articles across well-established media such as New York Times, Wall Street Journal and TIME. Collectors of her work include JP Morgan Chase Bank and actor Jackie Chan.

Annice Lyn

Annice Lyn is a documentary and sports photographer. As a former national figure skater, her transition into sports photography led to her becoming the first and only Malaysian female photographer whose work was accredited for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. Aside from the rink, Annice was a laureate for Southeast Asia Women of the Future Award 2020 and is currently a Canon Malaysia EOS Youth Ambassador. She co-founded Women Photographer Malaysia, a collective focused on empowering and highlighting under-represented women in the local photography industry to develop an inclusive culture that increases gender equality. She is listed on “Forbes 30 Under 30” in 2021.

Yu En Sy

Yu En Sy is a graduate artist who aspires to raise awareness about issues such as mental health through her artistic work. Ever since she was a teenager, she has turned to creating art pieces to express her concerns or simply as a therapeutic coping mechanism.

Esmond Sit Bo Sheng

Malaysian designer-maker Esmond Sit Bo Sheng creates speculative and ritualistic objects that provoke engagement with our genetic sense of biophilia. He examines themes of the sublime experience, speculative rituals and the ecological crisis through experiments with natural material and physical processes that aim to uncover divergent perspectives on material value. The growing state of biophilia that emerges from his practice is something he strives to communicate through his objects. He currently works as a designer and an artist assistant at Studio Hong Yi. He started Studio Sit as a personal venture into product design, craft and making.

Yan Wai Chun (Cedric)

Yan Wai Chun (Cedric) is a graduate architect working as an artist assistant and designer at Studio Hong Yi. He predominantly creates drawings that convey messages or stories in architecture and art and emphasizes on contextual and detailed characteristics throughout his work process. He aspires to create architecture or art that is balanced between technical and abstract through his thought process. Yan received his Masters in Architecture from Dessau International Architecture Graduate School (DIA), Germany. His first-year Master of Architecture (MArch) studio project entitled “Space Blocks: How to create Internal Spaces” won the first prize in DOM publishers Design Award and was published in the “Building for Children in Theory and Practice ’’ and ‘’ Crèches, Daycare Centers and Kindergarten” books. He co-founded Kamu Studio, an interior design studio with a strong interest in woodworks and design concept exploration revolving around the integration of traditional and modern materials.

Wong Kai Yi (Kaiyi)

Wong Kai Yi (Kaiyi) is a designer and digital artist who explores design possibilities in both reality and the virtual realm. Based in Malaysia, Kaiyi started his own design studio ‘Unreality’, focusing on architectural design, digital art and product design. His work aims to challenge the architecture paradigm and blur the boundary between art and architecture – and between virtual and reality. Kaiyi obtained his Masters of Architecture (RIBA Part 2/LAM Part 2) from the University of Sheffield (UK) in 2020. He published a joint thesis regarding energy currency, which received high commendation from the university. He was also invited as a guest speaker and panelist in external reviews for architecture students in UCSI University, KL. He is currently working as a full-time designer at Studio Hong Yi to manage and materialise the artist’s artwork. Recently, he launched the “Thank God it’s Monday” collaborative exhibition to showcase individual passion projects from the team.

Leong Chee Chung

Leong Chee Chung studied Master of Arts in Architecture in Hochschule Anhalt, Germany. His thesis explores the realm of abstract architectural spaces and digital graphics in rethinking the mental barrier in a multiracial society. After graduating, he practiced architecture in Berlin, creating interactive and playful spaces. Furthermore, in fuelling his passion for self-crafted shelters and interactive spaces, he started “Cabin Seed” to craft cabin spaces, experimental furniture and installations. He is currently working in Studio Hong Yi as an artist assistant and has since been responsible for managing and co-producing the artist’s artwork. In his journey of artistic exploration, he dived deeper into the physical and mental space through creating intriguing and thought-provoking art sculptures.

Apprentices

Hui Qi

Hui Qi is a fresh graduate with a bachelor’s degree in architecture who is on a mission to explore other possibilities beyond architecture. Having pursued architecture and experiencing designing and hands-on works for years, she finds that arts are relatable in everyday life, not just in architecture. She wants to embrace various ways of curating architecture and art-related designs. Her favourite quote these days is, “Future is unpredictable, I might be slow, but I’ll keep on walking!”

Kashinie Subramaniam

Kashinie Subramaniam graduated from Taylor’s University, Malaysia, with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. She works as an apprentice at Studio Hong Yi alongside other passionate creatives and is fond of making art, illustrations, and random doodles in her spare time. Kashinie is interested in exploring the vast yet peculiar relational dimensions of human beings through her own experiences and varying mediums of expression in hopes of intertwining her adoration for whimsy with her technical training in architecture.

Shir Yee

Growing up in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur, Shir Yee has always had a passion for art and believed in bettering herself through building new and improving on current skills. After graduating, Shir Yee decided to combine her logical and creative skills by pursuing a career in architecture. With a master’s degree in architecture, Shir Yee presently works as a freelance graphic and interior designer. In July 2021, she participated in the “CENDANA Apprenticeship Program in collaboration with Studio Red Hong Yi” and through the program, she hopes to extend her personal experience and vision from architecture into contemporary art and meet like-minded artists and designers to integrate better and learn more about the local creative community.

Phang Lim

Phang Lim was born and raised in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Syracuse University in upstate New York. Prior to his current position at Studio Red Hong Yi, he has worked in several architecture firms in various countries such as the United States, Italy, and Singapore and has worked as a teaching assistant at Syracuse University. His final year thesis, “Dissolving Realities” was awarded the faculty prize for the James A. Britton Memorial Award, where he explored the invasion of privacy in the domestic space through the help of communication technologies. Some of his notable works were also published in various publications such as KooZA/rch and Archisource.