Meeting the artist Yim Maline in Phnom Penh

Happened to pop into The Gallerist for the first time today, and meet Yim Maline and Svay Sareth as they were preparing for their upcoming exhibition, which opens later this week. It was me showing up out of nowhere, without an appointment, but Ms. Maline took an interest in my smalltalk and eventually I opened up a package I had come up to Street 240 to pick up which contained three zines from the Art & Copy series.

This was nice because of several things.

A fine day, a chance encounter, and also, best of all, it was nice to share with someone else who has also been making and going to some of the same places to make as I have, like Sapporo Tenjinyama AS, for ex. ‘I love Japan,’ she told me and all I could say was, ‘Yeah…’ Not surprising we chit chatted about that now that I’m reading an interview with her in this Singapore magazine, asked ‘What would you say are the best things about being an artist today?’, she said…

Yim Maline, b. 1982 in Battambang, had trained at the Phare Ponleu Selpak art school and then went further afield to keep studying at the École des Beaux-Arts de Beauvais, and Caen.

While I didn’t get to talk to Svay Sareth too much, as it was me totally intruding on their setup day, I was happy to say hello to him.

The artists were both kind, and quite welcoming and accommodating of a stranger who simply happened to be there. I guess that is what happens in art galleries?

But in any case, I was glad for that.

When Ninety Percent of it used to be Showing Up and how all that’s over in 2026

I was one of those people who showed up in person, and suddenly, things began to happen around me. Got to know people. Made friends. Had a couple of links to people who introduced me to other people. Gained some traction with clients and got invitations to events, to lectures, to theater shows. I was moving around in the 3D world and talking, talking a lot, and talking to… everyone. (But now, no.) You know how some people say, ‘Let’s get together and converse over coffee!’, well, I would be like, ‘Let’s!’ and be told to email HQ in some foreign country to get approval, instead of just booking a time on some online calendar. It’s hard to talk to new people now, even for me, and I’m actually kind of quitting soon as it’s so, so hard. Will visit other people’s events instead of trying to make my own DK-esque ones. Easier and I can also not show up if I change my mind, instead of being the only person who does show up? Like this one.

DESK feels very good about sharing this event for anyone who reads us, and recommending popping in for their opening this Thursday if you like ‘the big party’ kind of scene that the art world so adores. (A well-known artist friend of mine whom I had met in childhood, when I saw her for the first time since then in New York, quite a few years ago, told me to come along with her to an art exhibit in that city because this is what one does if one is an artist. But I was like, ‘No, dude. I’m going to a bloggers’ meetup.’ Which was, honestly, really quite good.)

Here’s more: https://designkompany.com/art-copy/yim-maline-and-svay-sareth-art-show-in-phnom-penh/