Helena Hsieh

Bio

Helena Hsieh is a Chinese-American artist, born and raised in Long Beach, California. She is currently pursuing a BFA in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 2007 her work has been exhibited at the Diego Rivera Gallery and Red Ink Studios. In November she will be in a show at The Luggage Store.

Statement

This painting was done in response to the recent protests in Burma. I was dimly aware of what was going on from various sources and but was only really intrigued when I read on Facebook that several of my friends from high school had posted notes speaking strongly for the monk's plight in Burma. This rally of support from several friends of different races (Cambodian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, etc) made me think about how even though the monks in Burma were thousands of miles away and not fellow countrymen, we still feel empathy for them and what they are striving for. My friend had mentioned a story about Pol Pot in relation to the situation in Burma. This made me think in turn of my own family's history of escape from oppression in Communist China. I made this portrait of a young Burmese monk holding up a candle as a gesture of hope, empathy and acknowledgement of their fight against oppression, a universal theme that can be understood all over the globe.