It's hard to choose the right word, the right line. This Body Mystery is a small book, but it took me over ten years.

When I was in the sixth grade my friend and I always won writing contests, and we read a lot of books. We were always the ones that read the most books in class. I thought about writing but visual arts weren't part of my vocabulary.

A lot of my work is process-oriented. I delve into my work and sit alone in silence and work with the material and process it, like talking to yourself.

In Cambodian culture the male figure in the family is important; when you lose your husband you lose your economic ability to survive.

Whether I affect one person or an entire family, or even a group of people, I feel like I have resources and education and ability and skills that some people may not be fortunate enough to acquire. But by sharing and inquiring, being a listener, and being interested in the stories of other people and their lives, I can also pull things out and say "What can I do for them? What can I share with them that may alleviate some of their suffering?"

I started to paint in the year 2000. I never thought of going to an art school, even though I loved art.

This is my first collaboration [with Mary Hamill] so I'm going to learn how it's going to work.