Visual Poetry: Alumni & Current Student Artists
Neang Narkary
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/narkary.art/
Bio:
Neang Narkary is a Cambodian-American artist that started her exploration about girlhood and societal expectations after the realization of the subtle influences that are projected through movies and social media. Her preferred mediums are acrylic painting and digital art. Color, textures and symbolism through objects and composition bring forth a compelling narrative in her works about these unrealistic expectations and sacrifices a person may go through to be beautiful. Narkary developed her skills at San Joaquin Delta College and Stanislaus State University. She is currently working to become an art teacher for high school to inspire the next generation of artists.
Artist Statement:
My work explores the intersection of feminism, girlhood, and societal expectations through the lens of digital art and acrylic painting. I am drawn to objects and symbols that evoke the delicate yet unyielding tension between naivety and insecurities —childhood toys, makeup, and other everyday items. These motifs serve as metaphors for the endless struggles we face to conform to societal beauty standards. My addiction to social media is an ever-present influence to my creative process, a space where beauty ideals are amplified and distorted. Where my insecurities are sold back to me. My art questions the cost of self-worth in a digital world, reflecting my own struggles with the push and pull of authenticity versus assimilation. By juxtaposing childhood imagery with unsettling undertones, I aim to capture the fragility and power that coexist within girlhood.
The Vain Preservation of Youth and Beauty (2024)
Digital art using Procreate
10.67” x 16”
$200
In my recent work, The Vain Preservation of Youth and Beauty, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, I confront the consumerist tendencies I engage in to meet beauty ideals. This piece is a self-reflective examination of the sacrifices—both financial and emotional—I make to fit into an ever-shifting mold. Using layered brushstrokes and texture in digital media, I depict images of preserved flowers and butterflies, beauty products, advertisements, and a marred self-portrait. The work speaks to the illusion of permanence, much like Dorian’s portrait, and raises questions about the lengths we go to preserve a curated version of ourselves.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (excerpt)
by Oscar Wilde
“How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June… If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!
For that – for that – I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!”
Wrinkles (2024)
Digital art using Procreate
12”x12”
$90
Wrinkles is also inspired by this theme of preservation. In my digital piece, I depict a real story of an 8 year old beauty pageant girl receiving Botox from her mother. The girl in the interview talks about how much it hurts and makes her cry but she gets used to it. She believes at her age that her wrinkles are ugly. I find Botox to be ironic and the epitome of a corrupt corporate society as this procedure actually causes the skin to sag and make the person appear older. Dorian Gray in modern times would be getting all the medical procedures possible to stay young at the sacrifice of his health.
Exhibition Season:
Alumni Artists Files