Thiang Uk: Shadow鈥檚 Edge
Bureau is proud to announce Thiang Uk鈥檚 first solo exhibition in New York, Shadow鈥檚 Edge. Uk鈥檚 paintings are luminous and tumultuous, evoking mythical expanses of sea, sky, and land. Light glistens on his surfaces like prismatic raindrops over tempestuous waters. Flames leap across cresting mountains, and smoulder amidst spiraling winds. His painterly technique approaches gestural abstraction with vibrant palettes and rhythmic mark-making, yet he retains illusionistic space in his otherworldly vistas. Many compositions feature pictorial elements 鈥� candles, hands, animals 鈥� floating at the edges and in the foreground, framing his compositions and introducing symbolic motifs. His paintings are deeply influenced by childhood memories of growing up in Myanmar, and the animist myths of his region. These oral traditions were passed down to him by his grandmother and formed the foundation for Uk to explore notions of shapeshifting and the interconnection of the land and its beings.
As a young person, Uk migrated from Myanmar to the U.S. with his family fleeing political violence and instability. Recent paintings reflect this fracture, featuring formal divisions and doubling of images, which stem from Uk鈥檚 direct experience of the trauma of migration and mutability of identity. Uk鈥檚 paintings bear the mark of grief but also invite contemplation of a boundless space where opposites conflict and merge. Creation and chaos mingle in his compositions, as raw, destructive energy meets with a sumptuous and sensory abundance.
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Bureau is proud to announce Thiang Uk鈥檚 first solo exhibition in New York, Shadow鈥檚 Edge. Uk鈥檚 paintings are luminous and tumultuous, evoking mythical expanses of sea, sky, and land. Light glistens on his surfaces like prismatic raindrops over tempestuous waters. Flames leap across cresting mountains, and smoulder amidst spiraling winds. His painterly technique approaches gestural abstraction with vibrant palettes and rhythmic mark-making, yet he retains illusionistic space in his otherworldly vistas. Many compositions feature pictorial elements 鈥� candles, hands, animals 鈥� floating at the edges and in the foreground, framing his compositions and introducing symbolic motifs. His paintings are deeply influenced by childhood memories of growing up in Myanmar, and the animist myths of his region. These oral traditions were passed down to him by his grandmother and formed the foundation for Uk to explore notions of shapeshifting and the interconnection of the land and its beings.
As a young person, Uk migrated from Myanmar to the U.S. with his family fleeing political violence and instability. Recent paintings reflect this fracture, featuring formal divisions and doubling of images, which stem from Uk鈥檚 direct experience of the trauma of migration and mutability of identity. Uk鈥檚 paintings bear the mark of grief but also invite contemplation of a boundless space where opposites conflict and merge. Creation and chaos mingle in his compositions, as raw, destructive energy meets with a sumptuous and sensory abundance.
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