Phnom Penh & Exhibition: Immersed in Land & Water by SNA Arts Management

SNA Arts Management is proud to present the group exhibition Immersed in Land & Water as part of the opening of a new gallery and project space.

Left: Sorn Srenh (Sea), Seahorse (The Ocean’s Messenger), 2017, digital print, 60 x 45 cm Right: Chea Sereyroth, Flower Bush, 2024, acrylic, sawdust, mud and soil on canvas, 130 x 100 cm

Featuring artists from Battambang, Phnom Penh, and Koh Kong provinces, including Chea Sereyroth, Kourm Kolab, Pen Robit, Prak Dalin, and Sorn Srenh (Sea), the exhibition introduces artwork in various media, including painting on canvas and on paper, sculpture, and photography. Focusing on environments in which humans interact with nature, such as waterways, fields, and forests, the artists explore elements of social reality, atmospheric change, social development, and the physical, cultural, social, and historical circumstances related to land and water in Cambodia.

Chea Sereyroth

Chea Sereyroth presents seven framed paintings on canvas, sharing his connection to nature and the daily lives of people living in rural areas. Taking viewers to remote areas, passing through districts, forests, and mountains, the work tells a long story rooted in a great past. Upon closer look, the art seems to depict a dark planet, but the influence of plants in nature shine through in fragments to reveal beauty. In creating these works, Sereyroth developed a deep connection with nature. Everyone relies on natural resources; without them, darkness will dominate.

Koeurm Kolab

Koeurm Kolab’s three framed paintings on canvas express her concern with social and environmental issues, especially humanity’s relationship with water. Water is the blood of the earth, and flows through its muscles and veins. In her work, Kolab observes the early stages of plastic formation, from the raw material in oil or gas pumped out of the ground, to the refining of oil into various consumables. Minerals, liquefied petroleum gas, chemicals, wastewater, effluent from industrial plants, plastic or resin objects used by humans and dumped into streams, canals, lakes, and rivers, all pollute the water, adversely affecting the daily life of people and animals, as well as nature’s biodiversity.

Pen Robit

The seven framed paintings on paper by Pen Robit introduce the technique of drawing lines in the pattern of the Khmer krama, taking both realistic and abstract forms. Appearing as grids, or blowing in the wind, the colorful patterns, along with patches of camouflage and hints of life in the countryside, seem to ambiguously allude to the relationship between military power, rural communities, and the forest.

Prak Dalin

Prak Dalin shows four sculptures, communicating a narrative of displacement and transformation of one’s surroundings. The high-reaching vertical pipes symbolize the industrial-built structures that dominate the landscape, representing the imposing influence of external forces on the country's development. The image echoes the dynamic and fluid nature of urban transformation while conveying a sense of atmospheric change as part of the imposing shift in the landscape.

The contour lines produced by the metal pipes add depth to the artwork, providing a sense of three-dimensionality. The vertical lines create a sense of upward motion, drawing the viewer's gaze toward the sky, giving the impression of growth and ascension, and evoking a feeling of progress and structural development to greater heights. Nonetheless, challenges ensue: this growth leads to concerns about energy consumption and a lack of supporting infrastructure.

Sorn Srin

The final collection features nine framed photos by Sorn Srin (Sea). He is a professional scuba diver, using equipment such as an oxygen tank, an oxygen tube, a mask, duck shoes and more that allow him to stay on the seabed for long stretches of time. Sea actively works on marine environmental issues, supports a local community fishery, and advocates for sustainable practices and marine protection. Sea takes pictures from the seabed, traveling from one island to another in Cambodia in search of images. His aim is to share the beauty of underwater biodiversity, including seahorses, seals, fish, and other colorful aquatic animals, as well as the stunning corals, which look like amazing architectural structures built by mother nature herself.

Immersed in Land & Water highlights the current state of the relationship between nature and rural livelihoods, urban development, and humanity overall.

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Immersed in Land & Water

Exhibition by Chea Sereyroth, Koeurm Kolab, Pen Robit, Prak Dalin and Sorn Srenh (Sea)

Exhibition period: September 26 – November 29, 2024

Opening: Thursday, September 26, 5:00 – 8:00pm

SNA Arts Management, #16, Street BT (Borey Sambath Mean Heng 3), Phum Tangov Kandal, Sangkat Niroth, Khan Chba Ampoeu, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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About the artists

Chea Sereyroth (b. 1990, Battambang province) lives and works in Battambang. He studied painting at Phare Ponleu Selpak in 2005. In 2008, he attended a workshop with international artist Sera Ing and artist Vann Nath under the theme, "The Memory of the Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia," led by Soko Phay-Vakalis at the Bophana Center in Phnom Penh. After graduating from the Battambang Institute of Technology (BIT) in 2012, he began working as a graphic designer and artist in Sonleuk Thmey Studio at Phare Ponleu Selpak. In 2013, he became a graphic design teacher at Phare Ponleu Selpak. His works focus on memory, history, humanities, social matters in rural communities, and how his countrymen continually neglect the environment. He uses acrylic, sawdust, mud, and soil to create new landscapes on canvas. His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Battambang, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Singapore, Japan, and Australia.

Koeurm Kolab (b. 1987, Battambang province) lives and works in Battambang. She is a 2007 graduate of Phare Ponleu Selpak’s School of Visual and Applied Arts, and a 2010 graduate of their Animation department. Kolab graduated from Gerard Pivat School of Applied Art and Design in France in 2014. Currently, she is a Visual Arts and Animation teacher at Phare Ponleu Selpak. Her works explore humanity, social change, and environmental change. Kolab won the 2020 Gold Prize from White Canvas Cambodia, organized by Social Compass Cambodia. She has presented her artworks in various exhibitions in Battambang, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, France, India, Korea, Thailand, and Japan.

Pen Robit (b.1991, Battambang province) lives and works in Phnom Penh. He is a 2010 graduate of Phare Ponleu Selpak’s School of Visual and Applied Arts, and graduated from Pivaut Applied School of Art, Nantes, France, in 2011. His work attempts to represent Cambodia’s past, present and future socio-political fabric. He draws influences from Cambodian cultural iconography as well as ongoing societal discourses. Solo exhibitions include: KrolaI (2024), Sofitel Phnom Penh Gallery; Rebuild on the Black (2022), Richard Koh Fine Art, Gillman Barracks, Singapore; Wings of Tomorrow (2022), Silapak Trotchaek Pneik (YK Art House) Cambodia; Out Of This World (2020), Richard Koh Fine Art, Malaysia; Beyond (2018), Tribe Cambodia, Siem Reap, Cambodia; Thread (2018), Sa Sa Art Projects, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Krama (2013), and Untitled (2012), both at Romeet Gallery, Phnom Penh.

Prak Dalin (b.1996, Kampong Cham province) lives and works in Phnom Penh. She graduated in architecture from the Royal University of Fine Arts (2019), and from the Contemporary Art class at Sa Sa Art Projects (2018). An artist and architect, she uses natural and other construction materials to create sculptures and installations that appear as architectural structures, focusing on the impact of Phnom Penh’s city development. She experiments with different media, playing with unconventional aspects of the materials. Inspired by nature, her artworks have been presented locally and internationally, including at Those Who Make Tomorrow, Balai Seni May Bank, Kuala Lumpur (2024); All That Surrounds Us, 16 albemarle project space, Sydney (2023); Cambodian artist in MAIIAM, MAIELIE, Khon Kaen, Thailand (2023); Shaking land and water, Esplanade-Theatres on the bay, Singapore (2021); and Folding Concrete 2, Contested Modernities Exhibition, Berlin (2021). She won the Dogma Prize ''Introspection” in 2021.

Sorn Srenh, known as Sea (b.1988, Koh Kong province) lives and works in Koh Kong. He earned a degree in Fishery Science from a university in Phnom Penh. He has been the Deputy Chief of Koh Sdach Commune since 2022. He actively works on marine environmental issues, and advocates for sustainable practices and marine protection. Sea's love for scuba diving and the marine environment has led him to play a significant role in conducting underwater reef surveys, participating in underwater clean-up activities, and capturing captivating underwater photographs. His goal is to share the beauty of the underwater world and inspire others to protect our mother ocean. He presented the photography work to his community and in Kampung Film Festival at Koh Sdach (2023).

About SNA Arts Management

SNA Arts Management is the first Phnom Penh, Cambodia-based agency connecting contemporary Cambodian visual artists with the broader art world. With extensive experience working with galleries, other art spaces, and arts organizations locally and globally, our main aim is to promote Cambodian visual arts and introduce artists to local and international art markets. We provide strategic career management, professional guidance, professional art space/collection/storage and consultancy to visual artists at all stages of their career. We also support and encourage their artistic development.

I have spent my life surrounded by the arts. I grew up within a performing arts family, and married a visual artist. I revere great beauty and creativity. I live to share my passion for the arts with others by showing the work of Cambodian visual artists to people the world over.

Chum Chanveasna (SNA)