Girl in a krama is my depiction of the physical and emotional impacts of the horrific Vietnam War and Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, through the abstracted portrait of a young girl wearing a traditional Cambodian scarf (the krama) in an S-21 prison room. I was inspired by my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia when I did World Challenge last year. The gestural, vibrantly coloured acrylic brush strokes are used to convey the girl’s innocence through their child-like appearance, in contrast with the cold, blue-grey background which exudes a melancholy feeling. I used oil paint in the girl’s eye to create realism, which is in contrast with the acrylic abstracted face.