About Jimmy Khong
Art is not to be seen but to be felt
the artist
I am Jimmy Khong, a French Cambodian artist born in 1988 in France.
I grew up in Nice, surrounded by the light of the South and immersed in the pop culture of the 90s.
I discovered a passion for drawing at an early age, filling my first sketchbooks with the faces of my childhood heroes.
After years working in the family business, I chose at the age of thirty to return to my first love: art. I enrolled in design studies, determined to follow the creative path I had set aside for too long.
In 2022, a painful turning point shifted everything for me. It reminded me how precious life is, and how much it deserves to be fully lived.
That marked the beginning of a personal and artistic journey that led me to Cambodia, my parents homeland.
As the son of political refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge regime, I felt the need to reconnect with my roots, to understand, to feel, and to express through painting what this country means to me.
For me, art became a refuge, a way to tell stories, express emotions, and build bridges between cultures, memories, and the sacred.
exhibitions
LIGHT OF HOPE
Rosewood - Phnom Penh
2024
Born from a time of introspection, each painting is a window into the dialogue between shadow and light, between uncertainty and rebirth.
Through these works, I explore light not merely as a visual element, but as a symbol of resilience.
It is an invitation to feel the fragile beauty of clarity emerging from chaos, and to find, within each glow, a reflection of our own renewal.
My first exhibition Light of Hope is a heartfelt tribute to my Khmer heritage.
From the beauty of ancient temples to the resilience of its people, Cambodia is an endless source of inspiration. Each painting reflects the duality of my identity, between tradition and modernity.
I work with light and shadow, seeking honesty in the faces I paint. What draws me is the emotion, the silent story that lingers in a gaze, a gesture, a line.
Through my portraits, I invite reflection, introspection. I seek to capture the universal within the personal, to celebrate the human spirit in all its depth.
“ There is a strange feeling when an artist reveals his art that is difficult to describe, a mix of anxiety, excitement, and pride.
An exhibition is a lying bare, you reveal your intimacy in a certain way.”
RETURN TO ANGKOR
Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor - Siem Reap
2024
Return to Angkor pays tribute to the timeless spirit of Cambodia, to its temples, its traditions, and the beliefs that still echo through stone and silence.
This journey gave me the chance to connect with my parents homeland. To be moved by the beauty of its land and its people, and to let that emotion inspire my work in a more intimate and spiritual way.
Each painting is a journey back to sacred origins, where memory and myth intertwine.
Through color and texture, I seek to capture the soul of Angkor: not only as a place of heritage, but as a living reflection of faith, resilience, and the passage of time.
In my eyes, art is not a solitary celebration. Art creates connections and helps us to know ourselves better.
One of its main purpose is to allow a sensitive approach to the realities that surround us and a way of moving people.
“As Paul Cezanne so rightly said: a work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art."
Art that speaks to the soul
Each stroke is a dialogue between tradition and modernity, a reflection of the human spirit.
Discover the unique works that inspired the editions.
about jimmy khong
Art is not to be seen but to be felt
THE ARTIST
I am Jimmy Khong, a French Cambodian artist born in 1988 in France. I grew up in Nice, surrounded by the light of the South and immersed in the pop culture of the 90s.
I discovered a passion for drawing at an early age, filling my first sketchbooks with the faces of my childhood heroes.
After years working in the family business, I chose at the age of thirty to return to my first love: art.
I enrolled in design studies, determined to follow the creative path I had set aside for too long.
In 2022, a painful turning point shifted everything for me. It reminded me how precious life is, and how much it deserves to be fully lived.
That marked the beginning of a personal and artistic journey that led me to Cambodia, my parents homeland.
As the son of political refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge regime, I felt the need to reconnect with my roots, to understand, to feel, and to express through painting what this country means to me.
For me, art became a refuge, a way to tell stories, express emotions, and build bridges between cultures, memories, and the sacred.
EXHIBITIONS
LIGHT OF HOPE
Rosewood - Phnom Penh
2024
Born from a time of introspection,
each painting is a window into the dialogue between shadow and light, between uncertainty and rebirth.
Through these works, I explore light not merely as a visual element, but as a symbol of resilience.
It is an invitation to feel the fragile beauty of clarity emerging from chaos, and to find, within each glow, a reflection of our own renewal.
My first solo exhibition Light of Hope
is a heartfelt tribute to my Khmer heritage.
From the beauty of ancient temples to the resilience of its people, Cambodia is an endless source of inspiration.
Each painting reflects the duality of my identity, between tradition and modernity.
What draws me is the honesty and emotion in the faces I paint. The silent story that lingers in a gaze, a gesture, a line.
Through my portraits, I invite reflection, introspection. I seek to capture the universal within the personal, to celebrate the human spirit in all its depth.
RETURN TO ANGKOR
Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor - Siem Reap
2024
Return to Angkor pays tribute to the timeless spirit of Cambodia,
to its temples, its traditions, and the beliefs that still echo through stone and silence.
This journey gave me the chance to connect with my parents homeland.
To be moved by the beauty of its land and its people, and to let that emotion inspire my work in a more intimate and spiritual way.
Each painting is a journey back to sacred origins, where memory and myth intertwine.
Through color and texture, I seek to capture the soul of Angkor: not only as a place of heritage, but as a living reflection of faith, resilience, and the passage of time.
In my eyes, art is not a solitary celebration.
Art creates connections and helps us to know ourselves better.
One of its main purpose is to allow a sensitive
approach to the realities that surround us and a way of moving people.
ART THAT SPEAKS TO THE SOUL
Each stroke is a dialogue between tradition and modernity, a reflection of the human spirit.
Discover the unique works that inspired the editions.