Born 1984, Takeo, Cambodia
Lives and works in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Than Sok infuses new meaning into spiritual practices and investigates the ways in which they permeate daily life and vernacular culture in Cambodia. His art explores how certain principles manifest and dictate relationships to community and environment, while also questioning the role of religious ritual and its incumbent sense of morality.

Recently, Than has committed to studying and developing techniques of a particular form of Buddhist painting, focusing on the water patterns in temple mural painting known as kbach teuk (water forms). The series pays homage to Than’s former teacher, Duong Saree, who was an innovator of Cambodian traditional painting. Delicately executed in a palette of greens and blues reminiscent of the depictions of water in temple murals, each painting transforms a different aspect of the natural world into a unique water design. Individual works become a study of a particular animal or plant — fish, reptiles, shrimp, water celery — melding into the form of a corresponding water motif.