Top 8 Rising Southeast Asian Artists
A new generation of Southeast Asian artists are using local personal histories and cultural narratives to explore identity and society.
Southeast Asia’s art scene has long been overlooked in global conversations, yet a dynamic wave of emerging artists is challenging this narrative. These practitioners draw from rich cultural heritage, personal experience and regional histories, transforming them through sculpture, performance, painting and installation. Their work often engages with pressing social and political questions — including gender, identity, memory and societal change — while experimenting with materiality and form. From the intricate textile-based compositions of Singapore’s Samuel Xun to the performance interventions of Myanmar’s Thyitar, this generation is using creativity to interrogate both local realities and universal concerns — signalling a new chapter for the region’s contemporary art.
Samuel Xun, Singapore
Samuel Xun. Photo: Courtesy of Dior, Richard Koh Fine Art and Juliana Tan.
Singaporean artist Samuel Xun (b. 1994) bridges fashion, material culture and identity politics through sculptural and textile-based works that examine the construction of self. A graduate of LASALLE College of the Arts, Xun’s practice reveals a meticulous relationship with materials, transforming ribbons, crystals and layered textiles into intricate, abstract compositions that shimmer with texture and emotion. The 31-year-old’s installations often appear ornamental yet introspective, juxtaposing glossy, hyper-feminine surfaces with themes of queerness, self-therapy and vulnerability. Each work becomes a study in excess and restraint — inviting viewers to look beyond aesthetics and confront how identity is shaped, performed and perceived. Represented by Richard Koh Fine Art, Xun has exhibited across Southeast Asia and internationally, with works held in private and institutional collections including Christian Dior. His art embodies a broader shift in the region’s contemporary scene, where personal narrative and material experimentation converge to articulate new forms of cultural expression.
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Zulkefli Jais, Malaysia
Born in 1996 in Perak, Zulkefli Jais represents a new generation of Malaysian artists bridging local identity with global dialogue. Working across installation, performance and mixed media, his practice examines social history and the psychological landscapes of displacement. His acclaimed project “Temporary Marking” — inspired by his hometown of Teluk Intan — translates collective experience into sculptural form, exploring how geography and history shape belonging.
Through abstracted figures and community-led installations, Zulkefli confronts questions of anonymity, power and vulnerability — reflecting on how people navigate systems of conformity and survival. His works — grounded in personal narrative yet expansive in scope — offer a textured view of Malaysia’s evolving cultural psyche. Winner of the Young Contemporary Major Award (Bakat Muda Sezaman 2023) and Malaysia’s representative at the Gwangju Biennale 2024, Zulkefli stands among Southeast Asia’s most promising voices redefining how regional histories engage with contemporary form.
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Aimi Kaiya, Thailand
Bangkok-based artist Aimi Kaiya works across paper and canvas, employing acrylics, oils, oil sticks, charcoal, soft pastels and spray paint. Her semi-abstract compositions combine vivid colour, textured surfaces and minimalist structures to explore the subtleties of everyday life. Drawing on both formal motifs and natural elements — flowers, lakes, skies — Kaiya’s works balance spontaneity with disciplined mark-making, inviting viewers to consider moments of ephemeral beauty and reflection.
Her abstract painting “Romance in Venice” was awarded at the Chianciano Biennale 2022 and is now part of the permanent collection at the Chianciano Art Museum. This work — like much of her practice — demonstrates a layered approach to medium and technique, merging multiple paint types to create depth and dynamic surfaces. Kaiya’s practice is informed by her background in clinical psychology and a self-taught exploration of abstract expressionism, which she uses to investigate perception, identity and the psychological resonance of art. Kaiya has presented solo exhibitions at ICONSIAM, Slowcombo and KICH Gallery in Bangkok and participated in international group shows including the 2023 London Art Biennale. Her works articulate a dialogue between local sensibilities and global contemporary practice, marking her as a notable emerging voice in Southeast Asia’s art scene.
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Nguyen Phuong Linh, Vietnam
Nguyen Phuong Linh is a Hanoi-based conceptual artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans installation, sculpture and video. Her work investigates Vietnam’s cultural shifts, traditional roots and fragmented histories, exploring the tension between visible and invisible truths. Through careful collection and transformation of artefacts, she constructs new forms that offer alternative interpretations of personal narratives and historical exchange.
Raised in Nha San — one of Vietnam’s first artist-run spaces co-founded by her father — Linh was immersed from an early age in a creative environment and has continued to contribute to the local art community both as an artist and curator. She co-founded Nha San Collective and has organised notable projects including the IN:ACT international performance art festival and the exhibition series “Skylines With Flying People”. Linh has exhibited widely across Asia, Europe and the United States, including participation in the Asian Pacific Biennale, Kuandu Biennale, Documenta 15, San Art Vietnam and the Factory Contemporary Art Center in Ho Chi Minh City. Her work balances poetic abstraction with rigorous conceptual inquiry, reflecting on impermanence and the intersections of geography, culture and history. Awards from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Hans Nefkens Foundation, Prince Claus Fund and Asian Cultural Council recognise her international engagement and innovative practice.
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Leang Seckon, Cambodia
Leang Seckon is a leading figure in the contemporary Cambodian art scene whose practice spans painting and mixed media. Growing up during the American bombings of Indochina and the Khmer Rouge regime, his work reflects Cambodia’s recent history, childhood memories and collective trauma. Through collages and paintings, he examines social, historical and personal narratives — using both traditional and reclaimed materials — to explore continuity, loss and renewal.
Seckon graduated from the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, where he later established himself as a pioneer of Cambodia’s emerging contemporary art movement in the 2000s. His work has been exhibited extensively in Cambodia and internationally, including the 8th Asia Pacific Triennale of Contemporary Art, Shanghai Biennale, Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, Art Basel Hong Kong and solo shows at Rossi & Rossi in London and Hong Kong.
His projects often merge community engagement with artistic practice. Notable examples include The Rubbish Project and Naga — a large-scale installation in Siem Reap — which raise environmental awareness and involve local communities. Seckon’s paintings — such as the “Golden Earth” series — depict the lives of rural communities, the Mekong River and Cambodia’s cultural heritage, reflecting on how history, geography and tradition shape contemporary identity. Seckon describes his work as a response to both personal and collective experience. He uses art to question freedom while emphasising the importance of cultural preservation. By bridging historical reflection with contemporary experimentation, Seckon demonstrates the resilience and evolving identity of Cambodian art within the broader Southeast Asian scene.
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Hongsa Khotsouvanh, Laos
Hongsa Khotsouvanh is one of Laos’s leading contemporary artists. Working from his home studio in the capital city of Vientiane, Khotsouvanh is known for his intricate newspaper collages — created from strips of paper a centimetre wide spread across a canvas. These works explore the contrasts between traditional Lao life and the rapid economic development of modern Laos, depicting everything from Samloo tricycles, woven basketsn and straw-roofed houses to luxury cars, shopping centres and mobile phones. Rather than offering overt criticism, his collages present these contradictions with a balanced perspective, blending nostalgic memories with the excitement of contemporary progress.
Images courtesy of Aura Contemporary Art Foundation
In addition to collage, Khotsouvanh works in watercolor, oil and charcoal, producing delicate scenes of the Mekong River, lotus flowers and rural life. These works offer a gentler reflection on Lao culture, complementing his collage practice. Across both mediums, Khotsouvanh captures the lived experiences of Lao women — including those from ethnic minority communities in Luang-Namtha and urban Vientiane — highlighting social narratives such as gender roles and family life. A graduate of the National Institute of Fine Art, Khotsouvanh began his career creating public health posters for NGOs in northern Laos before devoting himself fully to his art. His work has been included in exhibitions such as “Sunshower: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now” at the Mori Art Museum and the National Art Center, Tokyo, in 2017, demonstrating his growing regional influence.
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Citra Sasmita, Indonesia
Bali-born Citra Sasmita is a self-taught contemporary artist whose work interrogates Balinese art, culture and gender norms. Drawing on traditional elements, myths and the Kamasan painting technique, Sasmita creates compositions that reimagine mythology through the lens of female empowerment. Her long-term project — “Timur Merah Project; Harbor of Restless Spirits” — exhibited at Para Site Hong Kong and features cow’s hide paintings that blend Hindu and Balinese references with contemporary narratives, portraying geographies of female figures and natural elements.
Sasmita’s practice challenges historical gender hierarchies and misconceptions of Balinese culture while exploring secular and post-patriarchal themes. Her work has been recognised internationally, including a Gold Award at the UOB Painting of the Year 2017, inclusion in the Biennale Yogyakarta 2019 and solo exhibitions such as “Ode to the Sun” at Yeo Workshop, Singapore in 2020.
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Thyitar, Myanmar
Thyitar — also known as Khyin Mint — is a contemporary performance artist from Myanmar whose work addresses the intersections of womanhood, religion and social restriction. Drawing on her experiences growing up in a conservative Islamic family and a politically constrained society, she uses performance to challenge rigid gender norms and highlight the struggles faced by women. Her notable piece dubbed “Marriage” explores the complexities of intimacy and societal expectations, where she questions traditional frameworks of gender and relationships.
Despite limited formal opportunities, Thyitar has gained recognition across Asia and Europe — including nominations for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2020 and participation in international festivals such as Nippon International Performance Art Festival, Tokyo/Osaka (2015) and Field of Vision Performance Art Festival, Germany (2017). Her practice embodies a generation of Southeast Asian artists using creative expression to negotiate social, cultural and political boundaries, asserting a contemporary vision rooted in personal and collective experience.
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