Cherngzhi Lian, a Singapore-based artist and frequent traveler, sketches on every flight, bus ride and train trip. His journeys result in Moleskine notebooks filled with drawings that allow us to vicariously experience his travels with him.
Lian’s work typically focuses on commuters and cityscapes. His sketches often capture people candidly doing all sorts of things, unaware that they’re being watched. The artist says he travels as a way to cope with stress and gain a fresh perspective. “I travel to distance myself from the anxieties of my own familiar landscape,” he says. “New surroundings and cultures allow me to lose myself and to be immersed with the moment.”
In this recent photo series, Lian places the sketchbooks alongside his unsuspecting subjects, allowing viewers to compare the artist’s perception of a scene with its live counterpart.
