POI SAN TAY

Tay Poi San (郑贝山) is a third-generation creative ink painter of the Nanyang school, with more than 40 years of painting behind him. Before he picked up the brush, he was a master wood carver, making carvings for temples and antique furniture, and turned to ink painting in the 1980s.

Raised in Asahan, a small town on the Johor–Malacca border, he draws on the tropical world around him. His work brings vivid colour into ink, and he paints subjects you would rarely see in the art form, from lush landscapes to Transformers.

His paintings have travelled widely. He was selected among the top 500 artists at the Hong Kong Global Ink Art Festival (2021) and exhibited at biennales in Shenzhen and London. In 2025 he held his first exhibition in Paris, “Les Rivières de l’Encre” at Vanities Gallery.

At Wanawani, he teaches contemporary Chinese ink painting to adults every week, guiding each student from their first stroke towards a style of their own. He also runs training sessions for schools, art teachers and groups.