A new exhibition called ‘The Weight of Freedom’ opened recently at Akar Prakar Art Gallery where the magnificent and culturally rooted works of Leang Seckon have been exhibited, allowing visitors to decipher and decode the works in their specific ways. The amalgamation of personal history, cultural diversity, and deep connection with the fabric results in these highly creative works of Leang Seckon. His work is a deeply personal narration of history, political commentaries, and culture that engenders the fascinating composition.
When his country was bombed, his mother saved his life protecting him with her skirt. Since then his strong connection to his mother transmuted into a stronger connection to the fabrics and stitching. He also narrates this story through his performance ‘The Universe of His Mother’s Skirt’. Stitching and weaving thus became an irresistible part of his life that creatively decorated his canvases. Now, he uses leather and the reverse switch to create works of South Asian sensibilities merged with local traditions and values.
Siddhi, the curator shares her views “He works with canvas and collages. He takes from the culture. The sense of local tradition is very evident in his works but at the same time, he needs to include the culture by learning from it. Therefore, that is what he wanted to do with his ideas as well. We have a much-shared history based on religion and pop culture in Cambodia. We also grew up with similar history as well with both context, religious and cultural.”
She continues, “The amalgamation of Hindu and Buddhist scriptures is evident in his work. So, the similarity is what he wanted to highlight. That is why we invited him for a residency in July in association with Khoj. When we talk about the Cambodian artist, it is very difficult to understand their practice without the context. He is an artist who was born during the war (American Bombings) in the 1970s. At that time when his mother was pregnant with him, she had only one skirt to wear. So, any piece of cloth she found, she knitted it together to her skirt, to make it heavier and to protect him.”
She also adds, “The work is just not in the figurative aspect but in the abstract way. The kind of material he uses the composition, the colour palette, and the textile, which he selects. These are the kinds of similarities that we have in our culture. We must highlight, moving a few steps further, that his practice is very political. Every artist has their perspective and connection with the work but what the final visual looks like only the viewers can deduce. The intention is also important to see and analyse, including the figurative visuals. This exhibition is a part of the experiment which he did during the residency and his history.”
Seckon’s work creates a bridge between the social, political, and environmental issues merged well in his practice of creating paintings and collages that travel back and forth in the history of his country and his own life as well. His view of experiencing different corners of the world and exploring the critical culture allows him to exhibit and reflect spaces in his works.
Image Courtesy – Akar Prakar
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