EVANESCENCE

The Gallerist, in collaboration with Raffles Hotel Le Royal, is pleased to present Evanescence, a new solo exhibition featuring the work of Cambodian contemporary visual artist Nout Daro.

This new exhibition highlights Daro’s distinctive practice, presenting a series of paintings that explore themes of nature and culture while reflecting on the impermanence of our condition. Through this visual language, Daro constructs a poetic universe in which the boundaries between humanity and the natural world dissolve, giving rise to a nuanced and harmonious interdependence.

The opening reception, held in the presence of the artist, will take place on April 27, 2026, from 6:00 PM onwards at Raffles Hotel Le Royal. Guests will have the opportunity to meet the artist and experience the exhibition.

Exhibition Concept

“Evanescence” refers to the fleeting nature of existence, something that appears beautiful and meaningful, yet can vanish in an instant. It reflects on how both human beauty and the natural world are inherently fragile, fading with time or disappearing more rapidly through human intervention and neglect.

At the same time, the exhibition suggests a sense of responsibility: although these forms of beauty are temporary, they can be preserved and extended through care, awareness, and protection. In contrast, it also explores how certain human creations, such as culture, civilization, and other artistic expressions possess a different kind of endurance and can persist beyond physical dissolution, sustained through memory, narrative, and collective inheritance. Executed on cotton-linen canvas with acrylic and spray techniques, Daro’s works are marked by layered surfaces and gestural interventions that generate a palpable sense of depth and atmospheric movement.

Ultimately, Evanescence becomes a reflection on what fades, what remains, and how human action shapes the boundary between the two.

Artwork Description

This series by Nout Daro unfolds like a suspended reverie. The boundary between human presence and vegetal dissolves into something quietly uncanny. Faces resist the conventions of portraiture and appear as surfaces shaped by processes of organic transformation, erosion and temporal decay. They appear suspended in a liminal space, where stillness and movement coexist, leaves drift, forms soften, and the environment feels in a constant state of transition.

Surrounding these figures, lotus forms appear in various stages of bloom and decay, reinforcing a cyclical rhythm of growth, dissolution, and renewal. Rendered in muted aquas, mossy greens, and softened earth tones, the compositions evoke a dreamlike, submerged atmosphere. Intermittent inflections of ochre and desaturated pink introduce a restrained luminosity, intimating the persistence of life within processes of dissolution.

Through this interplay of form, color, and symbolism, the works meditate on impermanence and the fluid nature of identity, where the human body and the natural world are deeply intertwined and continuously evolving.

About Artist

Nout Daro, born in 1991 in Kandal Province, Cambodia, is a contemporary visual artist celebrated for his expressive paintings and sculptures that reflect themes of nature, culture and Cambodian identity. Nout Daro graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sculpture and Painting from the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh in 2018. Inspired early on by the natural environment around him, Daro first adopted a realistic style that resonated strongly with viewers.

His breakthrough came in 2020 when he was selected to participate in the Arts Festival of the Greater Mekong Sub-region, promoting cultural understanding across ASEAN. That same year, he joined the group exhibition “Nature Around Us” with the Community of Artists, where his vivid paintings of wild cows received enthusiastic support and sold out completely. These successes marked the beginning of a rising artistic journey.

Over time, Daro’s work evolved toward a more abstract and symbolic style. Influenced by his time spent camping and observing nature, he began incorporating intricate drawings of leaves and natural forms into his compositions. His technique features precise brushwork, layered textures, and warm, earthy colors that echo Cambodia’s landscapes. His visual language draws parallels between the natural world and human life, where the sap running through leaves mirrors the blood in our veins, a poetic reminder of the deep connection between people and nature.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2024: Illusion at The Gallerist Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

• 2024: Naturality  at Sofitel Phokeethra Phnom Penh, Cambodia

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 2025 : Vary - at Rosewood Phnom Penh Cambodia

• 2025: Collective exhibition at Epidemic Colombes la Garenne France

• 2022: Evolution - collection at The Gallerist Phnom Penh, Cambodia

• 2021: Goddess collective exhibition at Rosewood Phnom Penh, Cambodia

• 2020: Nature around us, Arts Festival of the Greater Mekong Sub-region, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

• 2019: National Museum-Phnom Penh for the ASEAN Cultural Programme, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

AWARDS

• 2024: First  prize at Ekarieach Art competition “My Life My Rule” Phnom Penh

• 2022: National Water Festival, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts