Painted Memories in Laos

In September 2008, our silk painting group hosted an art exhibition at the T'Shop Lai Gallery. We received a lot of positive responses from our friends, artist community and media in Vientiane. Thanks to Mimi Shada, the gallery owner, and Michel Mixay from Lao Journalist Association, the exhibition opening was attended by more than 100 people and we could sell many paintings and prints. We donated part of the proceeds to the Women's International Group's welfare projects to help disadvantaged women and children in Laos. Here are some of the paintings and artists:

Hisae, originally from Japan, came to Vientiane in March 2001 and soon thereafter she joined WIG art group. Hisae has always been interested in drawing and painting. She started to paint on silk since last year when she joined the WIG silk painting group. She likes to paint nature, flowers and animals, and it shows in her exhibit "Tree of Life." Animated, vibrant, cheerful, and detailed oriented - that's her characters that reflects in most of her paintings. I can say Hisae and her paintings are full of life.




Here's Cida's painting "Ban Pathang" - a village on the other side of Mekong River. Cida Copriva Cida is from Brazil, and has been in Laos for almost 10 years. She started playing with colors since two months ago. She’s never painted before until she joined the silk painting group, and she enjoys it ever since. This painting is her third since she joined the group. The soft coloring makes the painting look natural. Many people wanted to purchase this painting, but Cida prefered to keep it as her personal collection.

Kazue Kitamura has been living in Laos for more than two years. She started silk painting in 2007, and it is a new form of art for her. She likes painting flowers, nature and beautiful places in Laos. One of them is "That Luang Temple" - one of the most beautiful temples in Laos. This Buddhist temple which was built in the 16th centry is covered with gold paint, and it is outstanding and stunning. And, so does Kazue's painting

Maria Koller is an expressionist and her painting shows a lot of her emotional experience and artistic imagination. Most of her paintings are very playful and spontaneous. This painting "Fantasia" receives a lot of praises because of its peculiarity and originality. Maria has been painting for 15 years. She said, "Painting is a joy and also therapeutic - it helps to relax and forget everything". She paints mostly with acrylic and she started to paint on silk in Laos in 2007. Maria comes from Germany.

Arja Arasmo comes from Finland and has been living in Laos since 2006. Arja paints usually with quash or water colors. She also likes drawing and has recently started to draw comics. She is now learning oil colors with a Chinese artist in Laos. In 2008, Arja joined the group of silk painters. For this exhibition, Arja tried to capture a different images of daily life in Laos, and combine them with natural and imaginative backgrounds.