In the summer of 2022, while staying at a hostel in Ipoh, Malaysia, I struck up a conversation with the owner, tony. He took a liking to the drawings in my sketchbook and offered me a deal: in exchange for a room, I would create a mural on an empty wall on the second floor of the hostel. The hostel was also home to three cats; a mother and her two kittens, one of whom only had one eye. obviously she was my favorite.

Ipoh is a city with a rich history. In the 1880s, large deposits of tin were discovered nearby, which attracted Chinese miners and influenced the city's cultural heritage. Today, Ipoh is a unique blend of cultures, with Chinese influences still visible throughout the city. One local Chinese-born mining tycoon, Yau Tet Shin (姚德勝), had eight wives who all lived in one of three so-called concubine lanes, which are now a popular tourist attraction in Ipoh.

My mural pays tribute to Ipoh and its history. It depicts a one-eyed woman, representing (besides the one-eyed kitten) one of the concubines from concubine lane — mysteriously hiding behind a traditional Chinese hand fan known as a Tuanshan (团扇). The fan is decorated with a dragon, symbolizing power, strength, and good fortune — as well as the male energy of yang. To balance this out, the mural also includes a depiction of the moon, which represents the female energy of yin — as everything should be in balance. the stars are a last little nod at the little kitten, for together they form the constellation of leo.