Htein Lin's sculptural installation made from obsolete Burmese wagon wheels depicts ideas about the cycle of Samsara.  While returning to his home village in Ingapu, Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar, Htein Lin noticed the accumulation of wagon wheels, formerly used for ox-cart farming or transport, now left abandoned as motorized machinery and vehicles have taken over. Contemplating on the wheel Htein Lin created Bespoke. Htein Lin explains, “The image of the wheel is important to many cultures. It is often a metaphor for a cycle or repetition. In Ancient Egypt, it was a solar symbol. In Indian religions, including Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, it is linked to Saṃsāra the cycle of rebirth.”

THE WHEEL AND HIS SHADOW represents a karmic cycle of rebirth in Buddhism. Your karma always follows you as the wheel of the cart follows the ox, like your shadow. As one wheel is blackened the wheel creates a karmic shadow for the other. Htein Lin born in 1966 is a Burmese artist. He spent almost seven years in prison (1998-2004) for political reasons where he developed his artistic practice, using items available to him like bowls and cigarette lighters in the absence of brushes to make paintings and monoprints on the cotton prison uniform.  His works are exhibited and collected worldwide including Hong Kong's M+, The Singapore Art Museum, The Asia Society New York, among others.