As the world continues to be largely shuttered due to the ongoing pandemic, it can be tough to find a little corner in which you can just curl up and relax. Personal space becomes a difficult construct for people living with family, and those alone are subject to a degree of lonely isolation.

Shyly and legally known as Nur Ashikin but preferably identified as Eureka of EurekaArtStudio, Eureka has unknowingly been curating the perfect visual solutions to deal with the lack of space long before we even knew we were going to be cut short in that aspect.

With a collection ranging from intricate star maps to simple spreads of flowers, fruits, and vegetables; along with depictions of figures enjoying quiet contemplation in living spaces, her colourful and whimsical prints are no doubt that little slice of life we all crave.

Coming from an artistic family of an art teacher for a mother and a father who engages in painting as a form of passion, Eureka has been involved in creative processes since at the age of seven. Under the encouragement of her mother, painting went beyond paper surfaces to mugs, tiles, stones, and glass with any art materials they could get their hands on. Rules and restrictions of conventional art were abandoned, and only pure joy was the focus.

Art to Eureka was never a bid to impress anyone. Creating wasn’t even her biggest dream. But amid the hectic schedules of being a full-time architecture student, Eureka only sought the pleasure of creating something beautiful with her own hands. Artistic expressions of the heart and the twirls her own imagination spins is something she takes great joy in sharing with the world, providing wonderful and inspiring things each day.

I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.

Saul Bass, influential 20th-century graphic designer

The eclectic sources of Eureka’s inspiration are clear: animations, literature, song lyrics, nature, and even life itself can be the most unsuspecting of influences; and her obsession with celestial objects and astronomy-related bodies add a touch of literal heaven.

Her unique colour harmony comes from a lack of skill for realistic shades, but really, who has the time to find issue with that.

Citing making art as her best personal therapy outlet, Eureka is her own motivation. She creates for herself, and even launched her own line of enamel pins and collaborative jewelry purely out of wanting such products for herself.

Her foray into making her art available for the masses kick-started in 2015 at the Art Market Malaysia event. Curating a booth took more than just producing some artworks to sell, and soon after she came up with legit quality merchandise and commissions for personal and commercial works.

As a primarily digital artist, Eureka’s go-to medium for creating is a handy 11-inch iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil, with Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, and Illustrator software for touch-up editing via laptop. With many talents showcasing their portfolio-worthy creations across Instagram, Eureka saw a readily-available wagon to which she could hitch her own star.

Business-wise, Eureka seems to have discovered the secret to the digital age of showcasing. Aside from daily updates to her Instagram wall, she also maintains several active channels for local and international customers wanting art merchandise and accessories. She envisions her brand to grow from a little retailer to a global wholesaler, and have her joyful and characteristic designs on home decor products beyond wall art such as throw blankets, pillows, pottery, and other surfaces.

Like any other professional creative, she too experiences burn-out from time to time. After creative process periods of limited time and energy combined with an unhealthy dose of self-criticism, Eureka discovers that a simple recipe of giving herself time to rest, restore, and re-calibrate often naturally replenishes her strength to continue pushing on and being even more creative than before.

Having dabbled in web-based works and witnessing curated online exhibitions, Eureka notices a rise in more people gaining accessibility to the arts; and that artists themselves are being extra innovative in getting their works out to the public. A digital profile goes a long way in showcasing art and putting up pieces for purchasing, and is free from the limitations of chance showcasing and ‘prestigious’ constructs.

As one of the many thriving young Malaysian artists, I aspire to inspire more people in creating new forms of art and the natural identity of their own artistic voice.

Eureka

Eureka’s art can be viewed via her Instagram page @eurekartstudio and purchased via Etsy or Shopee @EurekaartStudio.

*This article was first published in The Expat (May 2020 edition). To get more content like this, subscribe for a free digital copy here, or join our mailing list for a physical copy.