Melvin Yap’s images of flowers featured at the Kimoto Gallery

Emotions are to be explored when viewing artwork from Melvin Yap, a Malaysian-born Vancouver-raised artist. He encourages people to take a second look at how flowers can be photographed at his new flower exhibition to be held at the Kimoto Gallery in Vancouver, March 6–28.

“Ka-Bloom is an explosion without the dynamite,” says Yap, 36, when describing his new exhibit.

After already being successful with his latest book, Theory and Problems, which shows intricate pictures of street art that really bring forth the human condition, he now has turned his artistic talents to still life in order to challenge the cliché of shooting flowers.

Ode to family

Flowers also became a worthy subject to take on because they reminded him of his grandmother who loved them. Flowers were also appreciated by his mother who used to say to him it was always a thoughtful person who sends them.

Yap knows his way around music and photography, and he remembers how photography all began.

“I remember begging my mom to buy me my first camera when I was around seven (1986). I remember this because I had just seen Top Gun,” says Yap, a self-taught photographer.

It was the first thing Yap had asked for that wasn’t a toy or candy. He did not factor in the various factors associated with photography such as time and cost of film development. His new found career stopped there.

His career picked up speed again when he was working as a 3-D artist for a video game company and he was given a spare digital camera by a friend, explains Yap.

With this new career knowledge and a lot of practice, he was able to learn and use methods, such as the printing of his work on metallic paper and using trans-mounting. Trans-mounting is done with an acrylic/plexiglass, for the front, and aluminium, put on the back. This gives the look of a light box without the box.

Trans-mounting involves bonding the face of a print to the underside of the acrylic with a clear film. According to Yap, this method gives an effective look for the flowers.

“With my background in music, and paired with my skills as a digital artist, the camera gave me the most options to get out and challenge my creativity while exploring the meaning of life,” says Yap.

Intuitive artwork

Yap was born in Kotakinabulu, Malaysia and grew up in Vancouver. In high school, he met Katsumi Kimoto (the brother of the current art gallery owner and curator) and Kimoto’s wife, Jiali, a graphic designer.

Kimoto who has known Yap for many years appreciates Yap’s talent with his clean and contemporary floated frameless pictures on the wall.

“Something you have to see in person to truly appreciate,” says Kimoto.

Artist Melvin Yap.

Yap puts every part of himself into his photographs, but does not consciously think about himself or his heritage when making his photographs.

“I rely on intuition and block out the past and future; and instead focus on the moment, so I can relate to anyone and everyone,” says Yap.

He explains it is not so much the subject at hand, but more about the experience. His goal is to eliminate preconceptions and be faithful to his intuition.

He says when he sees flowers now he thinks about how they have a huge burst of energy, and realizes eventually this beauty dies when they decay.

“Everything I want to say is in theses bouquets!” says Yap.

Opening reception is
Fri., March 6, 6 p.m.–9 p.m at the Kimoto Gallery.
For more information, visit: www.kimotogallery.com/exhibitions