Jerome Kugan is an artist, writer and musician born in 1975 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Since graduating with a BA in Writing from the University of Canberra in 1998, he has worked for various Malaysian publications as writer and editor, while also pursuing various projects in music, spoken word, theatre, visual arts, and queer rights activism.

In 2004, he was awarded Most Promising Artist and Best Music (Theatre) at the BOH Cameronian Performing Arts Awards for his work on Ops Ophelia, a stage musical directed by Rohaizad Suaidi.

Jerome was co-founder of Seksualiti Merdeka (with Pang Khee Teik and Lim Chung Wei), a gender and sexuality rights arts festival that was held at The Annexe Gallery from 2008 to 2011, when it was banned by the Malaysian authorities.

In 2008, he released his debut solo album, Songs for A Shadow. In 2013, he founded Rainbow Rojak, a series of monthly queer parties in KL, which continues to the present day.

In 2009, he co-edited Body 2 Body (with Pang Khee Teik), an anthology of Malaysian LGBTQ-themed stories that was published by Matahari Press.

A self-taught artist, Jerome began exhibiting his work since 2005 in Kuala Lumpur. In 2016, he decided to pursue visual art on a full-time basis.

After presenting his first solo show Red & Gold (Raw Art Space KL, 2017), he moved back to his hometown Kota Kinabalu where he has been based since.

In 2022, he presented his second solo show, HURT|NEED|UNDO|LIVE and RESIST at The Back Room KL.

In 2023, Jerome was chosen as one of 12 HIV+ artists from around the world to collaborate with scientists for the exhibition HIV Science as Art, held in conjunction with the International AIDS Symposium in Brisbane.

In the same year, he co-curated WUJUD/EXIST with Sharmin Parameswaran, an exhibition at Temu House KL that featured works made by queer Malaysian artists.

In August 2024, four of Jerome’s works were featured in Everyday Practices, a year-long group exhibition curated by Haeju Kim and Teng Yen Hui, at the Singapore Art Museum.

From Oct to Dec 2024, he was artist-in-residence at basis e.V. Frankfurt am Main, during which he created new works that culminated in his first solo show outside Malaysia, entitled Time is a Donut.

In May 2025, Jerome showed two works in Incurable Alliance: Asia-Pacific HIV+ Art Showcase at Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab Art Space IV, Taipei.

In June 2025, he presented his fourth solo exhibition, entitled All Life is Recycled + Time is a Donut at Temu House, Kuala Lumpur.

Jerome’s art practice chiefly revolves around painting and drawing on paper, fabric, wood, and recycled materials. Featuring representations of the human body, his works chiefly explores themes of identity, care of the self, gender and sexuality, human temporality, dreams, spirituality and memories.

He is currently working on a new series of works about queer failure, trash luxury and beachside romance.