Spirit of Myanmar

An old man was sweeping in front of a pagoda. His wife, feeling sorry that such an man still had to work, give him money. Holding the money, the old man prayed for him and his wife. He remembered the look of the old man's face. It was a mixture of gratitude, wonder and a tinge of surprise. These emotions were all captured I his portrait of the old man.

"In my facial portraitures, it is important for me to bring out the spirit of a moment, created by the moods or emotions the people were feeling at that time I saw them. So for this old man, whenever I see the portrait, I can feel and see his face with the money notes I his hands, praying of us."

Born in Bamaw, the Kachin state of Myanmar in 1948, Hla Myint Swe does watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings and photograph. But in Myanmar, he is best known for his almost life-like ink sketches. And it is also his favourite medium to portray what he wants to express. He specialises in facial and anatomical sketches. Now the head of Public Relations and information Department of Yangon City Development Committee, he also runs the very popular Yangon City FM radio station. He started sketching surprisingly when he was a young soldier.

"I am proficient in pen-sketching because after passing my matriculation exam, I joined the army. And while I was serving I could not bring brushed and papers except for a ball-point pen in my pocket. I mostly sketched portraits of national races I have never met in whatever places I had been assigned to"

In each and every sketch, see the wrinkles of the old, feel the happiness in the smiles in the young, enjoy the contours of the human form, the bond between mother and child; but most important, connect with the spirit of the faces the artist sketched over the years from Myanmar's rich and diverse cultural mix of people.