Kinh's New Work

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Yesterday afternoon I went upstairs to get a frozen banana in between flash card sessions. I saw Kinh sitting on the edge of a reclined beach chair on the 3rd floor porch, meticulously painting a piece of driftwood. This was the first time, aside from ordering construction workers around in between sips of coffee, that I had caught a glimpse of his artistic process. Later in the day, I ran upstairs again to get a bit of the Amok (fish curry with coconut, lemongrass, and banana leaves) that was sitting on the gas stove. Kinh's 'finished' piece of art was sitting on a bureau in the kitchen. Kinh was silently drinking coffee on the porch. When he saw me looking at his work while waiting for the amok to heat, he told me a bit about it:
The work was composed of 3 pieces of wood: drift wood, cheap block wood, and very nice (expensive) wood. "The wood," Kinh said, "is the poor people, the people who don't know." The drift wood was attached by string to the cheap block wood that many new buildings in Cambodia are made of. "The cheap wood," Kinh continued, "is the people who are in power--the corrupt government and elite Khmer and some poor people who know what they do is wrong, but do it because they have the power or feel like they get away with it." The drift wood and the cheap wood sat without glue or string on top of the nice, strong wood. "The nice wood," Kinh said, "is the good people, the people who do good things for Cambodia and Phnom Penh , and hold the other groups up."
On Sunday, Kinh has invited me to take a 30 minute drive to a nearby wooded area where he wants to cut down a tree that reminds him of a monster. He showed me pictures of this tree with a wild veiny trunk and wisps of hair-like vines extending from the top. The tree died within the last few weeks and the owner of the land has given Kinh permission to cut it down. Kinh plans to put the trunk of this tree around a palm tree so that he can change the shape of the palm, a tree which he sees as very rigid, into something more maleable.

---Note: I have yet to write about my trip to Sihanoukville (the beach) over the weekend. I am still putting together details, so expect this entry within a few days.
---Also still to come...a trip to a local carnival that goes on every day nearby the school.

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Comments

[Suzanne (Mom)]

Wow again. I'm reading backwards in time
I would love to see apiicture of the sculpture...and also, a picture of the tree that you went to see. What an experience you're having and your depictions are wonderful!