Title : Dominance

Series : Orang Utan V (The King/leader of the group)

Medium : Soft pastel on black paper

Reference : Own photography from a local Orang Utan conservatory (Bukit Merah, Taiping)

Size : 29 x 42 cm

Description : Why do orangutans have such big faces? - in zooming in , its detail textual, and backed with the knowledge of the conservatory narrative, it is one of the reasons as to why i named this painting as ‘Dominance’. Adult (Alpha) male orangutans develop cheekpads, which frame their faces and make their heads look larger. In captivity, males as young as 13 develop cheekpads, but in the wild, some males may not grow them until the age of 30. Once a male has his cheekpads, he won’t tolerate any other adult males in his vicinity and competes with them for access to receptive females. Cheekpads may also serve an acoustic function in helping project the ‘long call’ a male uses to broadcast his presence through the dense forest. *This visit to the conservatory was initiated by a local press media in aim of both interviewing both the conservatory director (on his visions) and myself (as an artist ) over my Orang Utan series.