Worcester, MA
United States
Hay Reh’s artistic talents were discovered and developed in schools in this refugee camp along the Thai/Burma border when he was a young adolescent. He spent years there, awaiting approval to come to a country of resettlement. Once he and his parents came to Worcester, Haw Reh entered public schools there. His teachers in high school and mentors in Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP) helped him procure art materials for experimenting with print making, etching, pastels, and especially watercolors. His topics for the latter medium were drawn from memory: of village times in Burma before the family was hounded out of their home village; of events and daily scenes in the Thai/Burma border refugee camp; of coming to America and seeing such sights as New York City. Hay Reh’s pictorial memories are not sugar-coated; his watercolors are lovely, sometimes wistful, but full of pain. The small houses depicted here would have been built and then frequently rebuilt by the forced migrant families that lived in them.
After years in Worcester and graduation from school Hay Reh has now moved to the Midwest, found a job, and opened a website, selling his art.