A young Bhutanese artist talks about herself. Interview with Sonam Yangdon

Right now I’ll let you know a nice chat with Sonam Yangdon – Broke Bhutanese Artist- a younger 19 12 months outdated lady who grew up in a village in Bumthang, central Bhutan, and who has been dwelling in Australia together with her household for a couple of years. It was exactly together with her arrival in Australia with the primary difficulties of settling in, feeling ‘completely different’ and moods like loneliness that Sonam started a creative exploration that led her to find her expertise. Not too long ago her work “Expensive Myself” was awarded within the RAW program – a brand new annual name open to younger folks aged 16 to 21, which options the most effective unique artworks produced by younger folks within the Murray area of Australia.

Are you able to clarify the which means of the identify Broke Bhutanese Artist?

I selected this identify as a result of I discover it humorous and might entice followers, it underlines my origins and it’s a technique to present how artists are in a way damaged – which additionally means “broke”, for costly inventive supplies. In my preliminary drawings I all the time tried to spotlight conventional Bhutanese indicators, resembling homes and landscapes, but additionally conventional clothes. I used to be attempting to succeed in out to the Bhutanese viewers first and get extra consideration from them. Now my works are rather more open, with a much bigger and extra common creativeness.

How did you get to Australia and the way did your dimension change from a small Himalayan kingdom to a big nation?

I got here to Australia with my father, mom and brother after my father bought a scholarship for a PhD in environmental science. I feel coming right here has made me mature loads, it has opened me mentally with new views of myself. In Bhutan there are usually not many individuals of different nationalities to satisfy and the college additionally hit me and marked me in a different way, opening my thoughts. I really feel like I’ve turn into a brand new individual.

What position did artwork play on this passage?

After I was in Bhutan I had by no means devoted myself to artwork, I assumed like many who I used to be not gifted. After I got here right here and began going to high school as a teen I felt so completely different, there aren’t many Asians within the space the place I dwell. Throughout highschool I felt very remoted and wanted one thing to precise myself, the feelings I felt and to be buddies with. These difficulties have been a blessing as a result of that is how I found the artwork. This transition actually affected me – after I was feeling lonely I used to go to the library throughout breaks from class and browse tons of kids’s books, I used to be impressed with how they made me really feel secure and completely happy and so I began fascinated with writing and drawing tales, which may additionally convey aid to different folks. Now that my work is on show on the museum I’ve obtained messages asking me for copies of the ebook that I’ve not but printed, and this has been very thrilling.

The work Expensive Myself – Expensive myself highlights a gorgeous inventive sense but additionally the exploration of a robust delicate and emotional dimension, in a dance between darkish and light-weight. What does this work inform us about you but additionally about your technology, particularly within the final two years of the pandemic?

After I was feeling very lonely I had determined to work in a restaurant within the night. One night time on my means dwelling I felt so misplaced as a result of I had nobody to speak, so I began imagining somebody who was there for me. From there the diary: ‘pricey myself how are you …’ and different stunning phrases that I wished somebody to say to me. Later, after I reread my diary I thought of placing it within the drawings and so the story was born. I don’t suppose it was influenced by the years of the pandemic as a result of I’m an introverted individual, even right here I don’t have many buddies, I don’t exit a lot and it’s regular for me to remain a lot time at dwelling, a nice time to commit to my passions.

I feel my persona has modified loads lately – in Bhutan it’s all the time in our head to really feel “I’m Bhutanese”, “I’m proud to be Bhutanese”, “our king is nice”. These kind of ideas are really cultivated in our head. After I arrived right here I felt an excellent change, not that it modified based on the nation the place I arrived, however an excellent interior and psychological opening, at this time I can say that I don’t belong to Bhutan however to the world.

The Bhutanese have a really sturdy sense of cultural identification, they’re very happy with their uniqueness and I feel that’s the reason they’re very shy about opening as much as folks of different nationalities.

You want to supply artisan paper, but additionally to get better completely different supplies, to recycle garments and materials that aren’t artistic can nonetheless be stunning in new varieties. What’s the message behind it?

I’ve preferred the style designer since I used to be little, I bear in mind attempting to create and recreate materials like a sport with my mom. I’ve all the time considered turning into a clothier, however after I arrived right here I found ‘quick trend’, the damaging affect it has on folks and above all the way it impacts the surroundings. I beloved shopping for garments a lot however then with these reflections I felt that it was not proper to proceed like this and that I might create one thing distinctive with the issues I already had, I created a brand new trend perspective for me. If I hadn’t identified the consequences of ‘quick trend’, maybe I might have continued to need and purchase new garments as earlier than – this has actually modified my viewpoint. Right now I store in second-hand shops and in a acutely aware means. I’ve turn into very minimalist, I don’t pay a lot consideration to materials issues.

Lately, Bhutan goes via a really delicate part, there are a lot of – particularly younger folks – who’re attempting to go elsewhere, to maneuver to bigger and extra fashionable societies, resembling Australia. If I could ask you what’s lacking right here that pushes you elsewhere and what do you miss in your nation?

I feel the factor that primarily pushes folks to different international locations is the scarcity of jobs. Even if you’re out of school and are actually ready and good it’s tough to get a job. And even if you happen to get a job the pay may be very low – I feel it’s very miserable for younger folks to see there is no such thing as a future in Bhutan. Should you come to Australia merely to scrub up, for instance, you earn greater than an officer in Bhutan.

I feel that if I returned to Bhutan now I might really feel actually unhappy, as a result of right here I can proceed my inventive profession whereas there is no such thing as a future for artwork and trend designers there. If there was work, many would stay there. Past that, I miss all the pieces about Bhutan, each single factor.

Can you retain some traditions alive there?

Once we arrived right here we introduced Bhutanese masks, Buddhist work and statues with us to create a cushty surroundings. The Bhutanese traditions are virtually all spiritual and concern the connections between households. I consider that the best worth we now have introduced right here is our household and our bond. I see that right here many younger at 18 are already out of their households and dwell alone, however I’m nonetheless right here with my dad and mom and we assist one another. This I feel is the very coronary heart of Bhutanese tradition: the sturdy bond with the household.

What are your future initiatives?

Now I’m finding out podiatry, I feel it’s a sensible choice for me as a result of I will work simply as a therapist and when I’ve sufficient assets to help myself I’ll research artwork. I feel I’ll keep right here in Australia, publish my tales and promote my books all over the world to succeed in as many individuals as attainable. When issues go nicely I’ll commit myself full time to artwork and put apart the exercise as a therapist. I feel I’ll go to Bhutan yearly for the vacations and to spend a month there, all my household, my grandparents and my buddies are there.

For these wishing to search out out extra about Sonam and its artwork, on Instagram you will see many designs, tales and garments reinvented with a cautious method to sustainability. Listed here are the hyperlinks together with her profiles

https://instagram.com/brokebhutaneseartist?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://instagram.com/brk_designing?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

A drawing by Expensive Myself, 2021 digitally printed drawings, courtesy of the artist.