The Incident At The Gopura (after Norman Rockwell) (Artprint)

The back alleys of Phnom Penh are vibrant, chaotic, and full of character, offering a glimpse into the daily lives of the city’s residents that main streets often mask. These narrow passages are lined with small shops, street vendors, motorbike repair stalls, and makeshift homes, where people live and work in close quarters. They also serve as vital routes for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and tuk-tuk drivers seeking to navigate around the heavy traffic on the main roads.

My artwork depicts a traffic jam at the entrance of an alley located behind a pagoda, explaining the presence of a gopura—a traditional temple gateway—and draws heavily from Norman Rockwell’s “Road Block.” In line with my exploration of the convergence of the supernatural and the mundane in the Cambodian context, I made the cause of the jam a baby Garuda—a mythical being from the kingdom’s Hindu past.