The Art Gallery

“…exquisite visual arts space…”

In his willingness to pursue his artistic research and to transmit his savoir-faire to new young Cambodians, Theam has turned his beautifully designed home into an art gallery and working studio dedicated to the creation. The art gallery features a professional curated showroom exhibiting all artworks conceived and produced onsite. This exquisite visual arts space give visitors an authentic insight into the distinctive world of Cambodian art.

THEAM’S PAINTING

Polychrome acrylic paint on panel, lacquer finish

Inspired by mural religious fresco of Cambodian pagodas and the technique of polychrome and lacquer ware, Theam reinterprets this ancestral technique to express his perception of a certain reality where strangeness and beauty are mixed. This series of the deeply personal paintings feature red-painted foreground figures set against different stone-temple backdrops. Those works are part of an ensemble Theam’ s new visual essay on the alienated figuration of people-human and the city-history which have been deteriorated from the present. The image is sometimes blurred and ambiguous despite its straightforward presentation. The figures set a curious scene in which confusion and ambivalence reign. Rather, they interrogate the processes by which we think we know and remember events. The scenery is entirely ambiguous despite its straightforward presentation, and we cannot decide whether the figure documented is real or completely fictional. These alienated figures synthesize his perceptions of the relationship of history to the individual in modern society and its effect on identity.

Theam’s works feature polychrome images on panel, enhanced by scratched sandpapering and lacquer. Each work is usually composed of different panel, which are arranged into diptych or triptych panels. The artist views his work as a re-affirmation of the ancient fresco art tradition and traces of photorealism are visible in his work.