Absurd optical illusions in ironic illustrations by Malay artist Tang Yau Hoong

Tang Yau Hoong is an illustrator and graphic designer from Malaysia who has gained fame as a writer of minimalist pictures and ironic comics.

Painting the light

The peculiarity of his style is the opposition of the background and the main image, which due to different color solutions smoothly flow into each other and create a new perspective with a completely unexpected meaning.

Ancient dinosaur

Often this effect determines the overall absurdity of the illustration and causes a slight smile. Hoong is a master of such unexpected graphic solutions, somewhat reminiscent of modern trompe l'oeil, but more concise and easy to perceive.

In the universe

His works are subtle and lyrical, which allow us to reflect on the closeness of man and nature or whether we are alone in the universe. However, the serious social message in them is not the main thing, and sometimes Hung draws illustrations in the genre of absurd humor, as in the picture of “erotic literature”. Indeed, everyone sees in it what is closer to them. Although it is precisely such double meanings that cause the comic effect.

Erotic literature

Hoong is from Kuala Lumpur and has been working for 11 years in advertising agencies and drawing illustrations for private commissions. But in his spare time, he creates ironic and slightly absurd comics for himself and his soul, which he posts on social networks.

Morning coffee

They are understandable to viewers all over the world, a boon to Hoong, who eschewed clouds of lettering and decided to limit himself to a single minimalist drawing.

Trap

However, even in them, the artist's signature style is immediately visible - the comic effect is often achieved through unexpected graphic solutions-tromplets, in which the artist lays down a certain second meaning. For example, the melting ice cream symbolizing the earth in the rightmost illustration reminds of the famous painting “ Scream”.

Melting ice cream

The hint is simple and rather banal: you need to think about ecology and take care of the environment, but how cleverly the artist has played it.

I'm freelancing

Hoong also creates illustrations depicting his life, his attitude to certain phenomena and his work. Sometimes it is typical absurdity, like a white shirt flying away like a bird, although here too there is a clear reference to the fact that Hoong, like many modern freelance artists, works at home, and he probably likes this state of affairs very much, because he doesn't have to think about dress code, or even to stimulate vigorous activity when there is no inspiration or just doesn't feel like doing anything.

A lost idea

Even his creative kitchen, namely its most difficult part - the search for fresh ideas, Hoong depicted in the form of a comic book, when gradually appearing and formalized thoughts, resembling a kind of ball, but due to some circumstances, all this work turns out to be a waste.

Free wi-fi

In some comics, Hoong warns of the dangers of free cheese in a mousetrap, ponders the eternity of love, and gives humorous advice on how to present even the worst performance to your bosses in a favorable light.

New Year's profit

But in all of them the artist's signature style is evident, and his work is hard to confuse with anyone else's.

Eternal love

As in many such comics, drawing is not the main thing here, although Hoong has mastered graphic editors to a very good level. It only serves as a means of expressing ideas and thoughts, but unlike the work of other artists, his illustrations contain original visual illusions.

Einstein's hoop

Hoong reflects in them a kind of strange and absurd world where mirages and reality are often indistinguishable from each other and together create a completely surprising pattern.

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