Select Page
Soa Leun - Thoughtfulness

I was born and grew up in Poland, but I feel emotionally connected with South Africa, where I lived at the end of apartheid. As a little girl, I witnessed a split between the two countries and the tensions associated with it. My works are mainly a story about childhood and its impact on our adult life. I also discuss the everyday life of women, in particular their feelings and boundaries.

I am interested in immigration, identity and loneliness in a broad sense. I like to look for hidden meanings in seemingly ordinary situations

find the cause, not just the effect.

Through my artistic practice I want to show that the history of every person is important and can resonate with others.

My work is narrative in nature, I often use photos: those that I do myself and found in family albums. With the help of the camera

I document what moved me and made me reflect.

Often these are people, a specific scene, colors, abandoned buildings.

In my works, I refer to the works of masters of painting and give them a new, contemporary context, where the main characters are black women.

I use traditional painting techniques such as oil or acrylic on canvas or paper. Sometimes I reach for everyday objects:

clothing fabrics, dried flowers, glass and I create installations from them.

I often weave different threads so that in the final form a cycle telling a specific story is created. I think there are more questions in the world than answers, and looking for them can be a fascinating journey.