Her face is furrowed by crossroads of deep wrinkles; she chews tobacco, has an impenetrable expression and sports a krama atop her head. Who is she? Cambodia – or perhaps what the country might look like if it had a face.
Sometimes our mood can be interpreted through our facial expressions: an open smile, a scream of terror or anguish, a laugh, a nose wrinkled in disgust, tearful eyes. Other times, almost imperceptible facial movements are like mysterious shadows, forming and vanishing in the blink of an eye. Such fluid feelings can be difficult to decode, with only the most attentive of eyes able to capture them on canvas. This is the job of Sao Sovannara: hunter of human emotions.
His portraits comprise photography imbued with secrecy. One, depicting an elderly woman representing the Kingdom of Cambodia, became the manifesto of Cambodian Portraits, a new exhibition at The Insider Gallery. The collection includes 15 profound and intimate artworks, including paintings and sculptures.
“When I started this artwork I thought about my granny,” says Sao. “She used to always have tobacco in her mouth and wear a krama to wrap her hair up. These are very typical Cambodian traditions. She died recently but her memory is always very strong.” The young artist, who used to draw in night markets to finance his art and architectural studies, is one of the winners of the second Cambodian Fine Arts Contest, celebrated last year at the Royal University of Fine Arts. His subject, says Sao, is a woman who, like many other grandmothers, endured great hardship to keep her family alive, but despite everything still wears a smile. She is, above all, symbolic of Cambodia’s endurance and strong will.
There’s a certain feeling captured inside any portrait: it takes time to create one and even longer to interpret the person behind the easel, waiting for something more than a photograph, deeper than a mirror. Art, psychology, sensitivity and concentration are the main tools for someone like Sao. “Being able to reproduce wrinkles, the signs left by a life of contrasting emotions, has been the hardest thing for me,” he says, pointing out how art can remind people of something long lost. “My generation is very different from the previous ones. We should listen more to our ancestors, study more about the history of Cambodia and, above all, not throw our traditions away. We should never forget where we come from because this is our strength.”
WHO: Sao Sovannara
WHAT: Cambodian Portraits art exhibition
WHERE: The Insider Gallery, Intercontinental Hotel, Mao Tse Tung Blvd.
WHEN: Until March 10
WHY: “We should never forget where we come from because this is our strength.” – Sao Sovannara