Descended from a line of master woodcarvers, Raduan Man has spent his life exploring the medium of print-making and attempting to push the medium beyond its limits. What sets his works apart from most print-making techniques is his use of canvas or jute as a surface which, as opposed to paper, allows for increased experimentation with scale.

Paying homage to “the power and beauty of man’s creation”, 1978 re-presents mechanical objects such as cars and scooters as beasts of the modern age. Each image is painstakingly hand-carved into a wood block and transferred on to the canvas in gradual layers, until the final image is formed. Through this laborious process, each layer in 1978 lends another facet to the surface, resulting in a complexity and depth. Man is thus able to achieve a sense of detail, despite the monumentality of the canvas, imbuing the work with a certain quality of ‘strength’.

In 2006 Man received the Pahang State Foundation Scholarship to study at the Camberwell School of Art in London, graduating with an MA in print-making that same year. The Malaysian-born artist also holds an MA in painting from the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom.

He has had several solo exhibitions in his home country of Malaysia, including one in 2009 at Galeri Chandan entitled ‘Beyond Print’. Additionally, his work is featured in private collections throughout Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Inodnesia and the United Kingdom, as well as public collections owned by Bank Negara Malayasia and HSBC Malaysia.