KOTA BHARU, Dec 16 — A deep interest and honed skills in art since his school days have proven to be lucrative for a fine arts graduate of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam.
Muhammad Sayuti Rosli, 33, said the murals he created could fetch between RM500 and RM160,000, depending on the type and size, as commissioned by the clients.
A simple mural could take him about three hours to complete and the longest he had spent on creating a mural was two months, he told Bernama when met in Jalan Temenggong, here, today.
On his venture into the field, Muhammad Sayuti said he started participating in art competitions in the state throughout his primary and secondary school years with the support of his father, Rosli Che Awang, 65, a former batik painter.
He said that after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UiTM in 2010, he often received invitations to give motivational talks to school students around the state.
“In early 2011, I decided to devote myself to being an artist and started developing my own art studio, Tangan Emas Studio and now I have two permanent employees,” he said.
The father of two was the sole Malay artist representative selected to promote Malaysian culture through art in Barcelona, Spain in 2012 and Melbourne, Australia in 2013 organised by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).
On his artworks, Muhammad Sayuti said he also received commissions from clients outside the state comprising individuals, cafe owners, and government and private bodies, adding that most customers were interested in 3D murals featuring landscape and flora and fauna motifs.
On his latest mural project, the artist said he was in the midst of painting a mural in honour of the country’s frontliners fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, which is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, National Art Gallery and Kota Bharu Municipal Council-Islamic City.
Asked on the challenges faced by a mural painter, Muhammad Sayuti said besides weather conditions, he had to put up with vandalism that would make him repaint his works.
— Bernama
