Artwork: Contemplation (Heritage Series)

. Art by Sherrie Thai of ShaireProductions.com



This is the second piece of the Heritage Series I started concerning human atrocities in Asia, particularly the Khmer Rouge--a tribute to my family and to the countless innocent people caught in the crossfire.

The inspiration of this composition was from an old photo (perhaps National Geographic) of an Asian male digging through a pile of bones, looking for the remains of his relatives. What furthered my interest was a photo my friend, Ricky, took while visiting Angkor Wat; it was a simple image of monks looking off into the distance. Merging the two, I came up with this piece. The colors are subdued, with accents on the focal points--the robe and the flames surrounding the bones. The image on the right contains the monotone graphite drawing. I chose not to apply color to the monk's face to give a sense of humanitarian loss--of being a ghost in a world of struggle and hate.

Artwork: Ghosts from Khmer Rouge (Heritage Series)

. Art by Sherrie Thai of ShaireProductions.com



This piece was inspired by the stories of my family--of tragedies from the hands of the Khmer Rouge, military intervention, and refugee camps. Different times beget different circumstances, but overall, history repeats itself. In a general sense, this piece is also a commentary on the atrocities of war, power, and corruption. Because this artwork comes from a very personal space, it holds great sentimental value. My family is ethnically Chinese, but have faced the same atrocities as Cambodians and Vietnamese from the Khmer Rouge. Modern Pan-Asian pollination has unified different cultures through basic life experiences. Sparked by personal events and a sense of self-exploration, I'm glad to have finally created the first (in hopefully--many) artistic tributes to my family and culture: The Heritage Series.

The initial illustration on the right is graphite on vellum. From there, I scanned in the artwork, collaged patterns (created from my brush pen) and digitally colored the piece. In many of my mixed media pieces, I tend to leave certain areas in grayscale. I've always loved juxtaposing detail with simplicity--in concept or through visual elements (Graphic Alchemy). While the Buddha monument is in the foreground, it's mostly monochrome--the viewer gets drawn into the detail, and not distracted by color. Although color can be a powerful tool, I like to emphasize the simplicity of the subject matter by taking color away. View Larger