Download Resume

Artist Bio
Oeur Sokuntevy studied painting at the Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang and moved to Phnom Penh in 2007
to follow her chosen career path. Sokuntevy has had much interest in her work as one of the very few female
contemporary artists currently showing in Cambodia. Her work recently premiered in the US at Noel-Baza Fine
Art Gallery in San Diego, CA, co-curated by Pierrette Van Cleve, Van Cleve Finearts. Solo exhibitions include Love
to Death at the French Cultural Centre, I Curl in Memory’s Belly at Java Gallery in 2010, Family Ties at Java
Gallery in 2009, and Star Signs at Hotel De La Paix in 2008 (Cambodia). Group exhibitions include Pharmacide,
Meta House Gallery, 2010 (Cambodia), Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale (Korea) in 2009, The Art of Survival,
Meta House Gallery, 2008 (Cambodia) and more. Sokuntevy’s work is included in art collections of the
Singapore Embassy (Cambodia) and the Singapore Art Museum. Her work has appeared in magazines and
newspapers including Art Asia Pacific, Asialife, Cambodge Soir, Phnom Penh Post, The Cambodia Daily and the
Southeast Asia Globe Magazine.
Selected Exhibitions
2011
2010
2009
2008
2009
Love, Lust and Loathing, Java Gallery,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Hey Sister, public square Sovanna
Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Sightlines, Noel-Baza Fine Art, San
Diego, CA, USA
Love to Death, French Cultural Centre,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
I Curl in Memory’s Belly, Java Gallery,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Family Ties, Java Gallery, Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Star Signs, Hotel De La Pix, Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Something in the Signs, Java Gallery,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale,
Incheon, Korea
Artist Profile : Sokuntevy OEUR
Sokuntevy OEUR (Tevy) is a female painter from Cambodia who is boldly leading the charge of the
country’s emerging women’s art movement. Tevy is certainly not afraid to speak her mind or ask
questions. At the forefront of her practice is an impassioned personal search to determine where, as
an independent woman and artist, she can identify herself within contemporary Cambodian society.
Her gender and professional status as an artist, coupled with her unrelentingly honest approach to
her subject matter, are a rare and precious combination.
Her paintings openly tell the story of the conflicts women of this generation face, whether
emotional, familial, social or financial, in trying to be themselves, in a place where restrictive
conventions and values have long-existed and mapped out the path for women. Contrary to the
Ch’bab Srey which advocated modesty, compliance, and the domestic sphere as a woman’s place of
work, Tevy advocates self-expression and individuality. The subjects that she paints and the
questions she raises through them, are testaments to her having found her voice and a personal
freedom. Her body of work which is inscribed with her life. Show that as an artist, Tevy certainly
knows who she is.
Tevy was born in the countryside and she studied at Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang where she
developed her oil and watercolour painting and pencil skills. Whilst she is now focused on her
painting, she previously worked with other mediums. For her second solo show ‘Something in the
Signs’ at Java café and gallery in 2007, she produced elaborate sculptural works made from rattan,
bamboo, coffee, paint, and homemade paper. This body of work discussed the significant role of
horoscopes and prevalence of superstitious beliefs Khmer culture. Her meticulous attention to detail
in these pieces shows her processes have been influenced by traditional Cambodian art, such as the
intricacies of the weaving craft and Khmer painting.
Accordingly, her refined and highly individual painting style combines a modern approach with
elements found in Cambodian art. Mostly acrylic on paper, the overall tone and rendering of her
paintings speak of folk art. Her clearly defined shapes and the strong colours show her awareness
and appreciation of her homeland’s history of art. In terms of her style, a surrealist dimension has
become increasingly apparent and exaggerated. In works such ‘L’amour a mort’, she is symbolically
representing herself at the end of a relationship. She is depicted mounting her lover, wielding a
machete ready to slay him with. Wide-eyed, with sharp cheekbones and exposed, sinewy limbs, she
is a vision of dominant power rather than conventional, refined beauty.
Her choice of subjects and her unforgivingly personal approach to issues she sees to be perceived as
being the cornerstones of ‘female identity’, family and sexuality, make her a tour de force. In her
series ‘Family Ties’, her sense of confusion as to being both a dutiful daughter and making her own
choices, is clearly apparent through her playing with the image plane. Once again depicting herself,
she literally moves between the foreground and background of the paintings, as she struggles to
resolve the expectation on her to have a strictly familial role, with her own ambition. This indecision
often leaves her in a weak position within the frame, literally as though she is displaced and
alienated.
Her latests works are resoundingly candid portrayals of her intimate relationships. At points showing
tenderness, and at others, contempt, they show all sides of love, including what happens when it is
no more. Displaying her willingness to discuss her sexuality, her latest works are tales told from her
experience in her previous and current relationship. Whilst she is seen in the paintings embracing,
being playfully suggestive, and being passionate, the face of her ex-lover has been crossed out. This
motif confirms that the relationship in firmly in the past and could not imply finality any more
strongly. Equally, it a a poignant comment on competing power balances within and in the aftermath
of intimate relationships. Her current partner is sympathetically portrayed. His features are painted
more delicately, and their bodies
Tevy's open and frank portraits on one level, push the boundaries of a conventional form of art
practice to new limits with her unconventional and at times risque subject matter. On another, whilst
highly autobigoraphical in content, Tevy is asking more broadly what is Cambodia today, and what
does it mean to be Cambodian? She cannot be alone in asking the questions, which are syptomatic of
a greater struggle within the country of reconciling change and modernity with tradition. As such,
she is firmly holding a mirror in front of contemporary society. In this, Tevy and her subjects are
true spirits of the age.
(text by Natalie Pace, independent curator)