Sometimes, it feels like social media platforms gamify the heck out of feed content to make it more addictive than it already is. This means getting the occasional mythical Instagram pull, some kind of out-of-the-box, out-of-this-world, out-of-the-ordinary content.
This time, these mythical pulls come from creators born in our colourful melting pot country, who just seem to exist on the next plane of inspiration. While this probably won’t fix the eyestrain from staring at the screen in awe, maybe the combination of visual, sound, and story relieves some strain on your soul.
1. Nadhir Nor (snadhir)
Otherworldly is one way of describing this artist’s work. Nadhir Nor turns lines and shapes into thoughts, ideas, and stories. Being interested in mythology, lost traditions, and how these connect with society, his work gives off a feel that it’s a lost relic.
It is as if you have found a piece of forgotten lore, and you might summon some kind of psychic entity looking at it the wrong way. As his puts it, “I believe that something about finding the otherworldly in the numbdane and vice versa is what makes a story worth to be told…“.
2. Rachel Wan (rachelwan.art)
Ever look at a drawing and wish you could live in it? Rachel Wan probably has a portal into one of these art worlds and is keeping it to herself, but she occasionally uses this power to make hearts melt by drawing what she sees through it.
From illustrating for animated films, from the recent Oscar-eligible “The Glassworker”, to various tabletop games and even the most recent “Zac and Zoe’s Ingenious Money Quest” children’s workbook, there are lovely touches of Rachel everywhere. You might even catch one of her “Tropic Down Under” Webtoons on the Malaysian subreddit r/malaysia.
3. Studio Space Dawg (space.dawg)
Swooping, flowing, vibrant, 2D avant-garde forms morphing and weaving into moods. Studio Space Dawg is an animation studio solely led by Michael Lim, a self-taught animator with graphic design experience.
Michael apparently has an incredible vision for shapes that look good, and in turn, they feel good when watching them too. If you ever get the itch for animation with a dash of colour, glam, and being somehow retro and futuristic at the same time, Space Dawg is the trip for you.
4. Quek Shio (quekshio)
There’s film-making, then there’s making a Quek Shio film. Quek is part of an award-winning production house, Reservoir Productions, under which he has made an award-winning film, “Guang”.
If you see an advertisement that has a distinctive visual flow and butter-smooth transitions, it’s probably him as well. His passion for cycling and filmmaking also surfaces on his Instagram as he makes films that make filmmaking look easy. They’re a captivating combination of stop motion and vlogging, only he can make setting up a vertical DSLR camera setup on a tilted slider look like a dream, the little parts accessories manifest onto his fingertips like magic, so satisfying.
Gan contributed to this article.
