In our series on artworks in Australian homes, Clare Arthurs shows us the painting she bought from renowned Cambodian artist Vann Nath that has become a beacon for her
, a renowned artist who had survived the horrors of S21, the Khmer Rouge’s torture prison. His life had been spared only so he could paint a portrait of the regime’s despotic leader Pol Pot.
Nath is best known for his harrowing depictions of the atrocities committed in what is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, but by the time of Arthurs’ visit, he had turned back to his rural childhood for inspiration. The idyllic landscape, which has accompanied her from Vietnam to London and now home to Australia, holds many meanings for Arthurs.‘When we tell stories about people, we’re not trying to get retribution for them’: Nath’s painting reminds Arthurs of her true north as a journalist.“He just wanted the truth to be told about what happened to him.”
In that sense, Arthurs says having Nath’s work in her home reminds her of “who I am and where I come from, and that the search for truth is a big part of my professional life”.
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