For artist Vince Low, dyslexia no longer a disadvantage
PETALING JAYA: Remember those days in school when you’d doodle in your exercise books or on the top of your desk with a pen or pencil? Most Malaysians would likely have done it – you’re a rare one if you hadn’t!
Vince Low was no exception, but his sketches were so artistic, his classmates would ask him to scribble on their desks, too.
Many years later, he would put his creativity to good use in his advertising career. And here’s another thing about Low: he has dyslexia.
“The letter ‘b’ would register to me as ‘d’. Words will move or be blurry when I tried to read. Sometimes letters would even straight up disappear,” he told FMT Lifestyle.
Low, now 46, shared that when he was growing up, dyslexia was not as commonly known as it is now. No one had thought of getting him checked by a professional; he’d assumed it was just sleepiness and laziness that led to him being slow at reading.
“When I read, I would be so focused on making out the words, I wouldn’t know what it was about after I finished,” he recalled.
As a result, he barely passed his school tests, except art, the one subject he excelled in. His father thus suggested he pursue it for his tertiary education and career – advice Low gladly followed.
The revelation about his condition only came in his 30s, when the company he worked for as an illustrator did a publicity campaign on dyslexia awareness. As his creative director explained the condition, Low finally realised he’d been affected by it all along.
It was that same campaign that gave birth to his brand of scribble art, which Low said had been inspired by the lines he’d created on discarded pieces of paper during a brainstorming session. “I thought, why not use those lines and create something beautiful out of them?”
Now, you might be wondering: what does being an artist have to do with being dyslexic? As he explained: “Being dyslexic, I see flat images as three-dimensional in my mind. I think that’s what sets me apart from others.”
Through his unique penmanship, Low captures images of people and/or events using a doodling style that might, on the surface, appear to be constructed of random lines.
Look more closely, however, and you will see plenty of nuance and detail, the scribbles and strokes conveying movement and fluidity, each line carefully crafted to represent the figure’s personality.
Low also paints portraits, his subjects including Malaysia’s own Michelle Yeoh; athlete Michael Jordan; actor Bruce Lee; and physicist Albert Einstein, who – fun fact – happened to have been dyslexic, too.
The Kuala Lumpur native is a supporter of Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia and often gives talks so others can learn from his journey and not have to face the same challenges he’d had.
“Ever since I found out about my condition, everything I went through has become crystal clear,” he said. “I’ve stopped blaming myself for my shortcomings. And I have fewer negative thoughts, too.”
Asked what advice he would give to aspiring artists or dyslexic individuals, Low said his go-to word is “believe”.
“Keep believing in yourself and what you’re doing. Even if you’re having a hard time now, perseverance will pay off in the end.”
Follow Vince Low on Facebook or Instagram, and visit his official website here.
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