Jagungart has been actively making his mark on many of Sarawak’s walls. His mural art is easily distinguished as it entails his signature 3D effect using spray paint. With a seven-year journey under his belt, the artist strives to make his mark internationally.
Leaving marks all over the world
Kong Chiak Kiong’s artwork can be distinguished from the intricate details that spew from the spray can he is holding. His talent — ensuring that every piece of mural art he has done entails his signature 3D effect. As he cleverly plans his next piece, rest assured that the talented artist will be doing mural art for a very long time.
Sharing his story with the New Sarawak Tribune, Kong admitted that he has never studied art, nor does he have the foundation for it. According to the 31-year-old, before his career as a mural artist, he knew nothing but the love for art.
Kong, known in the industry as Jagungart, had taught himself everything he knew today. “Art has always piqued my interest. But I never seriously pursued it. All I remeber was when I was younger, I loved drawing my favourite comic characters from Storm Riders and Dragon Ball comics,” he recalled.
Kong, a Sibu native, revealed that he was inspired by international mural artist Ernest Zacharevic. Seeing the latter’s artwork, Kong thought, “Why not follow in his footsteps?” And so, in 2015, his career as a mural artist got started with a piece of art he created for a business premise in Kuching, Sarawak.
Choosing a black and white zentangle style artwork as his first piece, Kong conceded that he was playing safe by choosing the concept. “Since I didn’t have any foundation in mural art, I chose the zentangle style and drew it using a marker pen.” Kong admitted that he was anxious about the result, but that once it was through, he felt proud of himself.
“I never thought that I could go that far. I never knew that I could draw on a big wall. It felt incredible, and I knew instantly that I was addicted to painting. I wanted to do more.” Kong then developed a new aspiration: to become a mural artist.
Kong would try to learn new skills by pushing himself to the maximum. When he’s not painting a wall, he spends his time figuring and developing new skills. He constantly look into different methods and areas where he could improve himself.
Up until 2017, Kong painted his murals with a brush. “However, I didn’t think the effect was as nice as I had hoped. I then noticed on YouTube that many graffiti artists were utilising spray cans to create their paintings,” he said.
According to him, he considered using spray cans to do his artwork because of the finer details it offers. “I can achieve a more realistic look compared to when I was using a brush. Furthermore, by using a brush, there will be strokes that appear on the image. But if you use a spray can, the image will look more three-dimensional.”
Asked about his greatest accomplishment, Kong shared that it was the one he did for the street art event “Make Your Mark in Melbourne” in 2019. He had painted two identical images of himself side by side.
“On the left side, I drew a happy ‘me’ as I reached for the shiny spray can. That symbolises that being able to do this art gave me happiness. On the right side, I deliberately drew myself blue, shot with arrows. This depicts the negativity I received in life, ones that discouraged me from continuing to do mural art.” Kong also added that this was his first time drawing away from home.
When asked to explain the challenges of being a mural artist, Kong disclosed that there are not many things that will come in the way, “Except for unpredictable weather.” Preferring to work during sunny days, the artist shared that before he begins, he would either set up a doodle grid to draw on, or he would draw the outline using chalk. However, if there were any urgent jobs, he would project the image so that he could spray on it directly.
Having drawn for seven years, he said that not much has changed in the local art scene. Despite the fact that mural art is now encouraged locally, Kong claimed that Sarawak lacked 3D muralists. “A lot of local artist chose fine art murals. For the industry to grow even further, I believe new talents must be developed.”
Apart from Sibu, Kong’s artwork can also be seen in Kuching, Bintulu and Miri. His current goal? He wants to become a travelling artist, to leave more “Jagungart” markings all over the world. “To do so, I would like to participate in many street art events held globally,” he added.
As he readies his cans of spray paint, Kong meticulously plans his next move. His latest international artwork is set to be in Ireland. To catch up with his latest artwork, do visit his Instagram page at @jagungart, as he regularly updates on his projects.
