SUB ROSA

SUB ROSA is Mangda’s third solo exhibition in New York, representing an inflection point since the artist’s debut at Chinatown Soup last winter. Seasonal changes mark radical shifts in her personal and artistic growth from a collage artist in-residence to a sculptural painter and program director. We are blessed to have her here with us.

Mangda’s latest series is a catharsis dedicated to the union of opposites. This dialectic meditation manifested as an intense repetition of molding and layering on canvases with mixtures of acrylic paint, concrete sand, flowers, and herbs infused with the artist’s reiki. Exercising her hands to radiate heat, pick petals, and baste grout in the secret confines of a basement studio speaks to a new wave alchemy that prizes practice above product.

A monochromatic palette speaks to the artist’s transition out of a black stage of absorption into a dazzling bright white light of purification. The theme of illumination is emphasized by Mangda’s experimentation with spheres, channeling moon phases that conjure the artist’s namesake "Sengvanhpheng" - which translates in Laotian to "the light of the full moon." Mangda’s art invokes our universal need to connect with self and realize a higher state of being.

Mangda Sengvanhpheng is a mixed media artist who lives in New York City. She works with paint, assemblage, and a variety of material textures. From an early age, Mangda was driven to reassemble and reimagine — creating methods for reconstructing reality. Her art is a mystical practice that explores form and the motion of color as a rite of passage into the spirit, playfully bridging dualities of life and transcending limitations.