Work In Progress

So here is a work in progress. I've begun creating the line work for this piece. The line work is being made with Adobe Flash, because I plan on animating it; and each element in the drawing was drawn as a separate piece so that it can move, and so that it can be printed as individual parts. Once all the parts are printed and cut out, I will use foam core to raise and layer the different pieces, creating almost a 'relief', but out of paper.

Note

Just a note, this series will not consist of ONLY depressing imagery, so cheer up! I just want to bring to attention the seriousness of what occurred, because it is such an overlooked or forgotten era. Once I am able to bring awareness to those around me, I will then also express the greatness and strength of the Khmer people, how they survived, how they've progressed, and they're journey to rising to the top once again.

I picked up this birdcage the other day while browsing an antique shop. It's definitely got an Asian feel to it, and I thought I could use it for one of my thesis pieces. I am going to use it as a representation of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Camodia; formerly a high school and used as the S-21 Prison(Security Prison 21) during the Khmer Rouge Era.




Here is an initial sketch of what I might put into this piece. There are a lot of repetitive elements and depiction of death because that is what S-21 Prison was. It was nothing but procedural death everyday, one by one executions of the remaining great minds of Cambodia. Again this is just an initial sketch and will be thought out further.

I will be illustrating multiple elements that will be cut out, and probably extend from the birdcade on wires, and also some elemetns such as "prisoners" will be placed inside. Rising above the cage will be Comrade Duch, the head of, or asshole, pardon my french, of the S-21 prison. He had final say on who was taken into S-21, how they were to be tortured, question, and then executed. I will be representing him with multiple arms and multiple heads, a common Hindu depiction of deities and demons. Being that Cambodia's belief systems are heavily infuenced in Hindu mythology, I will be using such imagery to assist in the metaphors I illustrate. So here Comrade Duch will be represented as a demon in a familiar depiction of a demon or god in Khmer culture.

The Flute Player

When Pol Pot was in control of Cambodia, his Khmer Rouge regime was sent out to systematically seek, hunt down, and kill any and everyone who opposed his way of "new life". This meant first and foremost, anyone who expressed themselves freely. Educators, professors, writers, musicians, dancers, and artists, were all hunted down and killed, because they had their OWN voice, and not Pol Pot's. Here is another documentary I came across that discusses this topic. Some of these creatives are still scared to come out from hiding and rekindle their love for the arts. Hopefully now is a time in which they can stop being scared, and bring their voices and stories back to the world.

Please Watch:

Thoughts

Here is a piece I did back in July for the thesis. I printed on a skateboard for a show I was in - in Richmond, VA. This was before I had the idea for what I want to do now with my visual portion of the thesis. I will be redrawing this image so that each element can printed separately then pieced back together, but layered and raised in certain areas. The best way to describe it is dimensional graffiti, and the inspiration came from old chinese layered wood cuts.
Here are a couple bad photos I took of one I picked up for the apartment; but you get the idea.




Although my pieces will feel less environmental/diorama like, but more graphic and design savvy to continue with the aesthetic of my style.

Killamari - out.

It Started in 1975 : Works #1

This piece expresses the tragedy of active land mines that ravaged the people of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge Regime, and the necessity of solving this issue today, as there are still millions of land mines littering the Cambodian Countryside.

Cambodia Documentary: Whisper Productions

Here is a video I came across while doing my research. It's about fifteen mintues long, and is just very powerful. It only makes my drive to help the Cambodian people that much more like a fire inside. I am very passionate about this and I hope that through projects like this documentary, the art I show the world, and a few other collectives like Korean medical teams treating the poor for free, that we can make a difference.

Please watch:

Cambodia Documentary Rough Draft from Whisper Productions on Vimeo.