Animal Art Affair: The Furry Things

Malaysian artist Kamwei Fong has made himself a household name with his fluffy and puffy, hand-drawn black cats.

- Eileen Chan

There’s nothing more adorable than a fluffy cat. And these black and white balls of fur seen here can attest to just that. Described as poetic, humourous, imaginative, and playful, the felines are fluffed and puffed into rotund balls sprouting equally puffed tails. Some look with curiosity or wariness at a dangling fish or waves that crash from its own tail, while others are drowsy, peeved, and deep in slumber.

Malaysian artist Kamwei Fong, 42, made a name for himself in the art world with his black and white rendition of cats – using only the 0.05pt and 0.1pt archival micro pigment ink fine line pens, and, loads of patience.

All hand-drawn, all with their own expressive personality, each of Kamwei’s cats beguile in their own right. Without mouths, the character’s emotions are conveyed with expressive, bright eyes, alert ears, and big, bushy tails.

And, it’s not just confined to felines: He dreams up similarly charming monkeys, goldfish, puppies, and other assorted animals in his furry utopia.

Those Furry Things

Based in Kuala Lumpur, his first piece in The Furry Thing series was created back in 2009. It became his initial calling card in the art world and had cat-loving people swooning over it. On Instagram alone, he gathered 197,000 followers for his black and white cats.