I am cadmium Red

To I Am Cadmium Red: A Memoir by U Paw Thame

After I had come to know U Win Pe well, he introduced me to Ma Thanegi. One afternoon in Yangon, she said, “There’s another painter in the U.S. you should check out. His name is Paw Thame.” When I got home, U Win Pe made the connection, and I soon flew out to West Texas to meet him. That was October 2008.

We spent three days together at his house, talking deeply about the early days of modern art in Burma—about the friendships, rivalries, and breakthroughs at the Peacock Gallery. Names like Kin Maung Yin and Bagyi Aung Soe came up again and again. And of course, Win Pe. Paw Thame spoke freely, urgently, as though he had been waiting a long time to tell these stories. I left with a stack of paintings and his trust that I would carry the story forward.

Soon after, I emailed him a list of questions. I’m not a trained biographer, but Paw Thame didn’t care. He believed in action. He answered everything—generously, relentlessly—and more emails followed. Dozens became hundreds. I realized there was a book in these messages.

I brought them to Ma Thanegi, his old friend and fellow artist from the Peacock Gallery. With his blessing, she shaped the correspondence into the book you now hold—a memoir and a fragment of art history. She also gave it its perfect name: I Am Cadmium Red.

After her work was done, she told me, “You should have a picture of you and Paw Thame on the back cover. And you should write a preface.” I never got the photo—this was before selfies were a thing. Paw Thame passed away in 2014. The best I can offer is a picture of me and Ma Thanegi, taken while we were working on this book together.

This memoir is dedicated to our dear friend, U Win Pe—who was always there for U Paw Thame, and in many ways, is the reason this book exists at all.

Chris Dodge  

June 2025