STEPHEN is a printmaker, painter, curator, and mentor who has spent over three decades building a practice around research, symbolism, and a clear refusal to make work for anyone but himself.

Born in Kuantan in 1972, he taught himself to draw by candlelight as a child, watching a classmate before anyone else was paying attention. He trained at the Kuala Lumpur College of Art, worked the portrait circuit at Central Market, then spent years in illustration and animation, eventually becoming chief animator on what was meant to be Malaysia's first animated feature film. He committed fully to fine art in 2003.

Menon started working in silkscreen in 2009 with no formal training in the medium. His first solo show, built entirely around Mao Zedong, sold out at Meadow Fine Art Gallery in 2010, and he's been pushing printmaking further ever since. His silkscreen work has since travelled to biennales and triennales across Asia and Europe, and he's now recognised as one of Malaysia's most internationally exhibited printmakers.

His practice runs on symbolism. Rather than state things directly, he builds layers into each piece that reward a second and third look, drawing on centuries of art history alongside his own research into his subjects. His long-running Eye to Eye series, self-portraits shot blindfolded, has become the one constant thread across his career.

In 2017, Menon founded Art Voice, a collective built to open doors for Indian Malaysian artists in a scene that had largely overlooked them. He now curates and mentors through ArtVoice Gallery in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, pushing the artists he works with toward the same international stage he fought to reach himself.