Pem Lham

Pem Lham was born in 1997 in Lhuentse, Bhutan. Her work is rooted in the intersection of synthetic materials and oral folktales—two influences that shaped her early world. Through installations, painting, weaving, and embroidery, she engages in a tactile process of disassembling and reshaping discarded materials, using traditional craft to explore memory, identity, and transformation.

She received her BFA in Visual Arts from Beaconhouse National University in Pakistan, where she was honored to be a UMISAA fully-funded scholar. Her practice examines the tensions of gender dynamics and societal constraints. She seeks to challenge conventional narratives and opens space for reflection on misogyny, cultural oppression, and the stories we inherit and retell.

"We carry soft hearts through sharpened days, expected to give warmth to the very hands that bruise us. In a world that forgets its own cruelty, we hold on—not out of ease, but defiance. This is the quiet battle: to love, to endure, and to not let go." - Pem Lham.