Self Portrait, Htein Lin - Burmese artist

While Htein Lin was detained in Mandalay Prison, he began making art with whatever materials and subject matter he could find, including himself. This self-portrait became one of the first pieces in his prison series. Scratched onto a plastic sheet using his fingers, a syringe needle, and improvised mono-print techniques, it marked the start of a new way of working shaped by necessity.

The portrait incorporates resistance. In prison, prisoners weren’t allowed long hair or beards. But Htein Lin pushed back in small ways, growing a thin beard as a personal act of protest. Guards tried to force him to shave, and he was beaten. That experience stayed with him and shaped how he saw himself, not just as a face, but as something deeper. In this portrait, the lines trace muscles, tendons, and veins, not for anatomical accuracy, but to reveal the pressure beneath the surface, the inner strain of life behind bars.

This work is more than a portrait. It’s a testament to survival, to standing one’s ground, and to finding creativity even in the most restricted spaces.