In 2012, Anida Yoeu Ali introduced herself to the Cambodian contemporary art scene through her first solo exhibition “The Space Between Inside/Outside,” returning to live in Phnom Penh after a 30-year displacement. Selected as Java Art’s inaugural 2012 artist-in-residence, Ali produced the “Enter Series” of works after the three-month residency where she was given a small studio, a stipend and culminating exhibition at Java Arts Gallery.
During her creative process, Ali gave herself permission to unburden from the weight of an ever-present Khmer Rouge history—by allowing herself to explore beauty, joy and experimentation without the pressures of historical trauma, politicization or the representations of a diasporic identity. This panoramic photo (Enter the Field #1 Arch Pose) and accompanying video (Enter the Field, A Dance) were taken in a Cambodian rice field found just outside of Phnom Penh.
The artist sought for a lush backdrop to emerge a dance from in an attempt to take rigid lines of a conventional frame out into an unconventional space. The stark black and white lines, ultimately representing “the institution” of a “white cube” gallery, are thus placed onto the artists’s body and playfully set against a natural landscape.
These scenes are meant to be surreal moments rising out of ordinary everyday environments. Situated somewhere between performance, event, and object, Ali’s practice explores personal and poetic ruminations on loss and life.
Photo source: optionstheedge.com
