Yim Maline

Yim Maline, born in 1982 in Battambang, is a leading contemporary Cambodian artist. Trained at the Phare Ponleu Selpak art school (1995–2003), she continued her studies in France at the École des Beaux-Arts de Beauvais and Caen, earning a degree in fine arts in 2010. Her multidisciplinary practice (spanning drawing, sculpture, and installation) explores memory, loss, environmental transformation, and the lingering effects of Cambodia’s post-war history. Rather than depicting historical events directly, she translates their psychological and social consequences into fragile forms, fragmented surfaces, empty spaces, and altered landscapes.

Nature occupies a central place in her work: she reconstructs landscapes that appear both organic and unstable, evoking processes of disappearance, decomposition, and regeneration. Her sculptures employ delicate or unconventional materials (tissue paper, wire, found fabrics, mixed media), creating a tension between fragility and resilience. An internationally active artist, Maline has completed residencies in New York, Vermont, South Africa, Japan, and Andorra. She is also associated with the SM Art Center in Siem Reap, where she contributes to children’s art education.