Poh Ling Yeow
Encyclopedia
Poh Ling Yeow is a Malaysian-born Australia
n artist, actress, celebrity chef
and runner-up in MasterChef Australia
.
, Malaysia in 1973 into a fifth-generation Chinese
family, Yeow attended SMK Convent Bukit Nanas
. She emigrated to Australia at age 9 with her parents and brother. After attending Seymour College
and then the University of South Australia
(where she earned a Bachelor of Design
degree), Yeow worked as a graphic designer
, illustrator
and makeup artist
.
Yeow's corporate clients as a makeup artist include L'Oréal
and Attitude magazine, the Australian String Quartet
and the short film my last ten hours with you. Her personal clients include Megan Gale
and Lisa Ho
. Freelance work as a makeup artist
led to her preparing models for artist David Bromley, increasing her understanding of the art market. Yeow has acknowledged that she posed as a nude model for Bromley.
Yeow adopted the Western first name Sharon until age 25, but reverted to Poh Ling as a part of embracing her cultural heritage. She became a fulltime professional artist in 2002.
Elements of her Chinese heritage feature in her work, including the goldfish, a symbol of prosperity and good luck in Chinese culture. A recurring character in Yeow's recent work is one that she calls The Girl, who she refers to in the third person, although the character's facial features are clearly similar to Yeow's. She says "I guess [The Girl] was developed as a cathartic act, in terms of embracing everything that I did hate about myself physically: the broad nose, the Asian eyes, the broad face".
A further theme behind her recent body of work was Yeow's split with her partner of 10 years, with titles including "Was That the Last Goodbye?" and "You Haven't Left and I Miss You Already". Her Mermaid series, with The Girl's clothes fashioned from
goldfish scales and fins, is about losing your identity and taking on your partner's.
In 2003 Yeow donated an artwork to raise funds for breast cancer research at Flinders Medical Centre
. She was also a judge for Youthscape 2008.
Yeow's work has been featured or critically reviewed in publications such as Vogue Australia
, House & Garden, The Advertiser and mX
.
In 2007, Yeow's artwork was used on the cover of the book The Chinese Exotic by Olivia Khoo.
Yeow's website at pohlingyeow.com was reviewed by The Website Analyst. The reviewer noted that "for the average user and the target market, the website’s simplicity is what makes it work. Aesthetically pleasing, simple navigation, fast loading and just the right amount of information."
In 2009, Yeow appeared in a glamour shoot for Who magazine.
program Beat The Chef
on 13 April 2005. Her auntie Kim Thoo assisted her in the studio kitchen, where she prepared Ying Yang Prawns. She returned to the program on 15 June 2005, assisted by her friend Felicity Electricity. This time she prepared Basil Thai Fried Rice
and Deep-Fried Dory Fillets with Green Mango.
from over 7000 applicants. Competition and eliminations began in May 2009. Yeow was eliminated on 18 June 2009 when she incorrectly guessed the ingredients in minestrone
. She was one of three eliminated contestants allowed to return to the program on 1 July 2009. She survived further eliminations to compete in the final on 19 July 2009 against Julie Goodwin
. Goodwin won the final, with Yeow runner-up.
in the World Chef Showcase in October 2009.
for a cooking series (Poh's Kitchen) and a two-book publishing deal with ABC Books
. The production on the series began in November 2009 in her home town of Adelaide. The series was aired from 10 February 2010.
Yeow was nominated for the Logie Awards of 2011
in the category of Most Popular New Female Talent.
In 2011 the ABC broadcast a second season of Poh's Kitchen, entitled Poh's Kitchen on the Road. Yeow travelled to all Australian states, as well as Singapore and Thailand, to film stories on produce and cooking.
(2004), Peaches (2004), Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger
(2008) and the Tropfest
short film Jackie's Spring Palace (2009). She is also credited as production designer
on Jackie's Spring Palace.
Yeow, who has an agent in South Australia, says "I've always just followed what I've enjoyed doing . . . in all areas of creativity."
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n artist, actress, celebrity chef
Celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become famous and well known. Today celebrity chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations via mass media, especially television. Historically, celebrity chefs have included Antoine Carême and Martino da Como.-External...
and runner-up in MasterChef Australia
Masterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
.
Background
Born in Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia in 1973 into a fifth-generation Chinese
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese is a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to...
family, Yeow attended SMK Convent Bukit Nanas
SMK Convent Bukit Nanas
Convent Bukit Nanas is an all-girls secondary school located at Bukit Nanas in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in 1899 a few years after rivals BBGS and MGSKL , it is one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur and is widely known as CBN...
. She emigrated to Australia at age 9 with her parents and brother. After attending Seymour College
Seymour College
Seymour College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school predominantly for girls', located at Glen Osmond, a suburb 5 km from the Central Business District of Adelaide, South Australia....
and then the University of South Australia
University of South Australia
The University of South Australia is a public university in the Australian state of South Australia. It was formed in 1991 with the merger of the South Australian Institute of Technology and Colleges of Advanced Education. It is the largest university in South Australia, with more than 36,000...
(where she earned a Bachelor of Design
Bachelor of Design
A Bachelor of Design degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts three or four years. It is an arts-centered degree that is a counterpart to the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree...
degree), Yeow worked as a graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
, illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and makeup artist
Makeup artist
thumb|[[Michelle Camaclang]], an international-certified professional makeup artistthumb|Special effects makeup techniquesA Make-up artist is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics for theatrical, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions...
.
Yeow's corporate clients as a makeup artist include L'Oréal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...
and Attitude magazine, the Australian String Quartet
Australian String Quartet
The Australian String Quartet is a prominent Australian string quartet, which presents an annual program of chamber music throughout Australia and internationally....
and the short film my last ten hours with you. Her personal clients include Megan Gale
Megan Gale
Megan Kate Gale is an Australian model and actress.- Career :Born in Perth, Western Australia, Megan Gale's father is English and mother is part Maori and is the youngest of three children with two older brothers.-Modeling:...
and Lisa Ho
Lisa Ho
Lisa Ho is an Australian fashion designer born in Albury, on the New South Wales and Victorian border. She is married to Philip Smouha....
. Freelance work as a makeup artist
Makeup artist
thumb|[[Michelle Camaclang]], an international-certified professional makeup artistthumb|Special effects makeup techniquesA Make-up artist is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics for theatrical, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions...
led to her preparing models for artist David Bromley, increasing her understanding of the art market. Yeow has acknowledged that she posed as a nude model for Bromley.
Yeow adopted the Western first name Sharon until age 25, but reverted to Poh Ling as a part of embracing her cultural heritage. She became a fulltime professional artist in 2002.
Artist
Yeow works mainly with acrylic paint on canvas. Her early works featured heavily textured backgrounds whereas recent works present a smoother, more refined and highly detailed finish.Elements of her Chinese heritage feature in her work, including the goldfish, a symbol of prosperity and good luck in Chinese culture. A recurring character in Yeow's recent work is one that she calls The Girl, who she refers to in the third person, although the character's facial features are clearly similar to Yeow's. She says "I guess [The Girl] was developed as a cathartic act, in terms of embracing everything that I did hate about myself physically: the broad nose, the Asian eyes, the broad face".
A further theme behind her recent body of work was Yeow's split with her partner of 10 years, with titles including "Was That the Last Goodbye?" and "You Haven't Left and I Miss You Already". Her Mermaid series, with The Girl's clothes fashioned from
goldfish scales and fins, is about losing your identity and taking on your partner's.
In 2003 Yeow donated an artwork to raise funds for breast cancer research at Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Medical Centre is a 580 bed public teaching hospital and medical school, co-located with Flinders University and the 130 bed Flinders Private Hospital located at Bedford Park, South Australia. It opened in 1976. It is one of the major public hospitals operating in metropolitan Adelaide...
. She was also a judge for Youthscape 2008.
Exhibitions and media
From her first solo exhibition in 2002, Yeow has been a regular exhibitor at the Hill Smith Gallery. She has also appeared regularly at Libby Edwards Gallery.Yeow's work has been featured or critically reviewed in publications such as Vogue Australia
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, House & Garden, The Advertiser and mX
MX (newspaper)
mX is an Australian free afternoon daily newspaper in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, owned and produced by News Limited. Targeted at commuters, its main channels of distribution are inner-city railway stations, tram and bus stops, and major CBD intersections.-Beginnings:The first mX...
.
In 2007, Yeow's artwork was used on the cover of the book The Chinese Exotic by Olivia Khoo.
Yeow's website at pohlingyeow.com was reviewed by The Website Analyst. The reviewer noted that "for the average user and the target market, the website’s simplicity is what makes it work. Aesthetically pleasing, simple navigation, fast loading and just the right amount of information."
In 2009, Yeow appeared in a glamour shoot for Who magazine.
Beat the Chef
Yeow first appeared on the ABC televisionABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
program Beat The Chef
Beat The Chef
Beat The Chef was a television show shown on ABC-TV in Australia. It is a part game show part cooking show where two contestants cook a meal out of strange ingredients within 25 minute time limit. This show was influenced by the world-popular Japanese cooking show Iron Chef.The show did not return...
on 13 April 2005. Her auntie Kim Thoo assisted her in the studio kitchen, where she prepared Ying Yang Prawns. She returned to the program on 15 June 2005, assisted by her friend Felicity Electricity. This time she prepared Basil Thai Fried Rice
and Deep-Fried Dory Fillets with Green Mango.
MasterChef Australia
Yeow was selected in the top 20 contestants for MasterChef AustraliaMasterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...
from over 7000 applicants. Competition and eliminations began in May 2009. Yeow was eliminated on 18 June 2009 when she incorrectly guessed the ingredients in minestrone
Minestrone
Minestrone is the name for a variety of thick Italian soups made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes....
. She was one of three eliminated contestants allowed to return to the program on 1 July 2009. She survived further eliminations to compete in the final on 19 July 2009 against Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin
Julie Goodwin is an Australian cook and singer who came to public attention when she won the inaugural season of MasterChef Australia in 2009, defeating artist Poh Ling Yeow in the final.- MasterChef Australia :...
. Goodwin won the final, with Yeow runner-up.
World Chef Showcase
Yeow appeared with Matt PrestonMatt Preston
Matt Preston is a British-Australian food journalist and restaurant critic. He is best known for his role as a judge on Network Ten's MasterChef Australia and his weekly food column in the Herald Sun 'Taste' supplement...
in the World Chef Showcase in October 2009.
Poh's Kitchen
Yeow signed with the ABCAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
for a cooking series (Poh's Kitchen) and a two-book publishing deal with ABC Books
ABC Commercial
ABC Commercial is the commercial arm of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is responsible for making a profit through the creation, marketing and retailing of ABC products and services worldwide.-History:...
. The production on the series began in November 2009 in her home town of Adelaide. The series was aired from 10 February 2010.
Yeow was nominated for the Logie Awards of 2011
Logie Awards of 2011
The 53rd Annual TV WEEK Logie Awards was held on Sunday 1 May 2011 at the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, and was televised on the Nine Network. The awards ceremony was hosted by Shane Bourne, marking the first time he has hosted the event....
in the category of Most Popular New Female Talent.
In 2011 the ABC broadcast a second season of Poh's Kitchen, entitled Poh's Kitchen on the Road. Yeow travelled to all Australian states, as well as Singapore and Thailand, to film stories on produce and cooking.
Actress
Yeow has appeared in four films: Human TouchHuman Touch (film)
Human Touch is a 2004 film directed by Paul Cox and starring Jacqueline McKenzie and Chris Haywood. The plot follows the story of Anna who is a singer trying to raise money for her choir's trip to China. She does this by posing nude for an ageing artist and upon seeing the finished results goes on...
(2004), Peaches (2004), Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger
Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger
Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger is a 2008 Australian independent teen film written and directed by Cathy Randall. It stars Danielle Catanzariti, Keisha Castle-Hughes and Toni Collette. The film follows Jewish 13-year-old Esther , an outcast at her posh school, where she has no friends...
(2008) and the Tropfest
Tropfest
Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival.Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people in a cafe in Sydney but has since become the largest platform for short films in the world. Tropfest Australia takes place in February each year in front of a live audience of approximately...
short film Jackie's Spring Palace (2009). She is also credited as production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
on Jackie's Spring Palace.
Yeow, who has an agent in South Australia, says "I've always just followed what I've enjoyed doing . . . in all areas of creativity."