Soe Yu Nwe is an artist from Myanmar. After earning an MFA degree in Ceramics at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design in 2015, Soe participated in numerous residencies in the United States and across Asia. Her experience of living cross-culturally has inspired her to reflect upon her own identity through making, conceiving it as a fluid, fragile and fragmented entity. Through transfiguration of her emotional landscape by poetically depicting nature and body in parts, she ponders the complexities of individual identity in this rapidly changing globalised society. Soe’s work has been exhibited internationally, including the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 2019 (Brisbane), 2018 Dhaka Art Summit (Bangladesh), The New Taipei City Yingge Ceramic Museum (Taiwan), Yavuz Gallery (Singapore), ZieherSmith, Chelsea, New York (USA) and the National Gallery of Indonesia (Jakarta). Recently, Soe has become an invited member of the International Academy of Ceramics as the first member from Myanmar. Her work has been acquired by the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia. Soe was named in Forbes 30 Under 30: Art & Style 2019.
“This is a piece I made in response to the news of the capture of NLD party, Feb 1st, 2021. In the midst of global health crisis - the covid pandemic - our world is yet destabilized further more with the political unpredictability resulting from the military coup. I hope to capture this sense of destabilized reality in a palette that is hopeful. In this drawing of a peacock in captivity, the peacock serves as the national symbol of Myanmar and it is also present in the flag of the Democratic Party.
#freemyanmar #artasprotest #peacefulprotest #wedeservefreedom”