PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Modern ink painting in Malaysia has evolved beyond the Nanyang style into a new paradigm, which characterised by the integration of regional themes and modern techniques, drawing upon the legacy of Nanyang pioneers and influences from Abstract Expressionism. This study uses the term "Neo-Nanyang" to illustrate how Malaysian artists adapt ink art to reflect Malaysia’s complex post-independence context, which is marked by hybridity and shifting identities. The discussion examines the selected artworks of Neo-Nanyang artists, including Chung Chen Sun, Le Chek Wen, Cheah Thien Soong, Lok How Yuan, and Chong Choy, employing visual and contextual analysis within the framework of New Art History. This study also applies Stuart Hall’s and Homi K. Bhabha’s theoretical concepts of Cultural Identity, Hybridity, and the Third Space as a conceptual foundation to investigate the underlying motivations for the development of Neo-Nanyang modern ink painting and its expression of Malaysian-Chinese identity. The findings of this study provide significant contributions to the field of Malaysian and Singapore Art History by addressing gaps in the scholarship on modern ink art in both countries, offering a new understanding and analysis of Neo-Nanyang’s technical and thematic innovations, and how traditional Chinese ink art adapts to regional and global influences. These insights expand the discourse on Southeast Asian modern ink art in general and its relevance within the study of postcolonial and global contexts.