Narong Daun, 53, is a very talented Bidayuh artist whose silk fabric artworks have taken her from Kampung Garung in the Padawan highlands to the world.
With more than 20 years in the art industry, she has sold hundreds of colourful paintings which focus mainly on Sarawak’s flora and fauna.
Do you know she was stuck in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic because of travel restrictions?
New Sarawak Tribune recently interviewed the renowned silk painter at her house and art gallery in Kampung Garung on her experience and life as an artist.
Narong’s passion for painting started in secondary school. She taught herself how to paint and play with colours.
“Honestly speaking, I was not a bright student but I could paint.
“So after school, I took up painting as a hobby at home and slowly I learnt about some of the materials and medium used for painting,” she said.
Narong also said that after leaving school, she worked as a general worker in Kuching during the day, but painted at night.
“I sold small paintings to friends for extra income,” she said.
The turning point in her life came in 2000 when she was invited to work as a resident artist at Ramsay Ong’s art gallery.
Ong is an award-winning batik artist and gallery owner in Kuching City.
“I learnt a lot from working at his art gallery until 2015. After the gallery closed, I did freelance painting.
“My stint with Ong was a stepping stone for me to move ahead with my passion for painting,” said Narong.
“Every parent wants his/her children to be successful in whatever careers they choose, excel in studies in school and have a good job that can provide bread on the table,” she said.
“In my case, I was not in my studies but I knew I was good in art. So I told my father I wanted to be a full-time artist.
“I promised I would work hard if I could pursue painting as my career,” she said.
Although her father tried to convince her to reconsider her decision, she refused to give up her dream.
“It is true that life as an artist is very hard. There were many times I wanted to give up but then, I remembered the promise I made to my father.
“I am successful today because of all the hard work and the passion I have put into my paintings,” said Narong.
She revealed all her paintings were inspired by batik designs on clothes.
“I never went to any art school to learn about batik painting. I learnt by myself. I learnt how to control my hand movements and experimented with the materials.
“After that, I tried to draw some good lines using canting (a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax in the batik-making process). Of course, the lines were not perfect and with more practices, they became better,” she recalled.
Narong was also not satisfied with the cotton fabrics she used.
The colours applied were not vibrant enough for her. Then she tried using silk fabrics.
Narong said she was not satisfied with using wax as well because the colours on her painting were dull. So she proceeded to use fabric dyes.
“I found that using silk and fabric dyes for my paintings gives me more freedom to move on the canvas and that I can create natural lines and strokes.
“So after years of practising and experimenting, today, I am very confident with my freestyle batik art.
“I am very happy with the vibrant and bright colours I create,” she said.
Narong’s paintings of Sarawak’s nature and its people are loved by art lovers in many parts of the world, particularly the United Kingdom, Germany and other European countries, Hawaii in the United States of America (USA) and some parts of Asia.
Germany is her second home since she married a German man.
However, her marriage has not affected the subject matters in her paintings.
“For me, the focus in my paintings is always nature, the flora and fauna here in Sarawak.
“Some of my paintings also have the tribal designs and motives of the indigenous people here, mainly the Dayak and Orang Ulu designs.
“No matter where I go, I still want to promote Sarawak culture through my crafts,” Narong explained.
She hoped Sarawakian artists, young and old, could be recognised and appreciated for their work and creativity by the people.
Artworks created by artists in Sarawak should be displayed for everyone to see, she said.
“As we all know, in Sarawak local artists don’t have a proper place we can call an art gallery to exhibit our art pieces.
“I hope the government, particularly our Premier, can help local artists here by providing us with a space for us to display our artworks so that we can share them with the public.
“We don’t talk about sales now. Each work represents something such as culture, a social issue or a story. We want our artarts to be appreciated by our society,” said Narong.
