Starting to Work Again: Contemporary Cambodian Art

Lauren Iida curates work from Open Studio Cambodia, an artist collective based in Siem Reap. Founded in 2018, the collective mentors, represents, and provides supplies and communal studio and gallery space to a small group of local contemporary artists. Koji Minami and and Iida debut their film, Made in Cambodia, that describes the recent cultural and art historical shifts in Cambodia and the lives of these artists.

PREVIEW WORK AND PURCHASE HERE

Artists: Morn Chear. Lauren Iida. Hom Rith, Van Chhovorn, Kim San, Ye Ranue 

Kim San. Refugees Gathering.

Kim San is a Khmer Rouge survivor, and educator. After fleeing the Khmer Rouge genocide in his early teens, he spent many years living with his widowed mother and his older brothers in Khao-I-Dang Refugee Camp in Thailand where he was able to learn how to paint from a rare surviving Cambodian artist. Because of his disability from polio he was not sent to fight in Cambodia's civil war of the 1990s, enabling him to pursue his fine art career which led him to Phnom Penh, and his current home of Siem Reap. Currently his work is being collected for permanent display by Open Studio Cambodia (prints available for sale).

Lauren Iida. The Appearance of a Garment Factory Worker. Couresy of ArtXchange Gallery.

Hom Rith. Cambodian Noodles.

Rith was born in 1986 in Kampot Province and spent his childhood watching the Buddhist temple painters inside his local pagoda. His fascination with their craft inspired him to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. He has created a successful career with his watercolors, mainly by painting the ancient temples of Angkor Wat and selling to tourists in Siem Reap. Rith joined Open Studio Cambodia as a collaborating artist in 2019 seeking mentorship in expanding the conceptual side of his work, a collaborative environment, and reaching a broader audience.

Ye Ranue, Boar

Ye Ranue is the youngest member of Open Studio Cambodia and the adopted son of Open Studio Cambodia founder, Lauren Iida. Ranue works in drawing and block print and his work is often inspired by Cambodian wildlife, nature, and his family history. Ranue is a 10th grade high school student in Siem Reap, Cambodia and saves all the proceeds of his art sales for his future college tuition.

Morn Chear Happiness in teh family

Morn Chear is an accomplished contemporary dancer, singer and visual artist proficient in illustration, painting, drawing, and printmaking. His work often depicts scenes from his everyday life before and after an electrical shock accident cost him both of his arms in his early 20s. He is a graduate of Epic Arts program and a former professional contemporary dancer. He and his wife relocated in 2019 to Siem Reap where he is pursuing his art career through Open Studio Cambodia