Canvas:
The work is created on hand-selected Myanmar fabric dyed in the earthy tones of old brick. This color recalls the weathered surfaces of pagodas and temples from the Bagan period, where history, belief, and authority are materially embedded in everyday landscapes. The fabric evokes inherited structures—religious, cultural, and ideological—that continue to shape ways of seeing across generations. Used as the ground of the work, the textile becomes a metaphor for inherited vision itself: a surface shaped long before the present moment, carrying layers of time, belief, and silent instruction.

Technique:
Acrylic paint is applied directly onto the prepared fabric surface, allowing the material to remain visible and active. Two female figures are constructed through a combination of painted form and collage. Newspaper clippings drawn from Myanmar’s political context are cut, layered, and assembled to form the second figure, then integrated into the painted surface. The coexistence of paint and printed text creates tension between embodied presence and imposed narrative.

Process:
The work develops through layering and interruption. The front figure is painted first, establishing a sense of immediacy and vulnerability. Political newspaper material is then collected, fragmented, and collaged to construct the second figure positioned behind her. This figure is not added as background but as an active force, shaping the gesture and meaning of the composition. Subsequent layers of paint soften and bind the elements together, allowing the relationship between figures to emerge gradually.

Artwork Description:
Inherited Vision examines how ways of seeing are shaped long before they are questioned. The work explicitly addresses systems of teaching, silence, and fear—how they are passed down, normalized, and embodied across generations. Vision here is not only physical sight, but perception itself: what is allowed to be seen, what must remain hidden, and what is learned not to question.

The figure formed from political newspaper fragments represents inherited ideology—constructed, instructional, and persistent. Positioned behind the other woman, she enacts control through proximity rather than force, closing the eyes of the figure in front. This gesture reflects how fear and obedience are often taught through care, protection, and repetition, rather than overt violence.

Rather than framing this inheritance as intentional cruelty, the work recognizes its complexity. Silence is not always chosen; it is learned. Vision is not always taken away; it is shaped. Inherited Vision reflects on how individuals grow into systems already in place, carrying perspectives that feel personal but are deeply collective—absorbed through family, education, media, and survival itself.