LOS ANGELES - SHEPARD Fairey, the artist best known for his 'HOPE' portrait of Barack Obama, is now trying to create an iconic image of Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in whom he sees both beauty and sternness.

Mr Fairey's poster of Obama - which showed the future president tinted in red, white and blue and staring into the sky above the word 'HOPE' - became an emblem for the candidate's supporters during last year's campaign.

In Mr Fairey's representation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate is depicted beaming with a dove above her heart on top of red rays of light. The phrase 'FREEDOM TO LEAD' appears above.

'I think that the way people respond to art is when it's both powerful and provocative - but also beautiful,' the Los Angeles-based artist said.

'The fact is that she's a beautiful woman - stern in her resistance but also very positive,' Mr Fairey said. 'The positive side, considering everything she's been faced with, was what was important to emphasise.'

Aung San Suu Kyi's party swept 1990 elections but the junta in Myanmar refused to let her take power and instead confined her to her house in Yangon. The 64-year-old is now at Yangon's notorious Insein prison and faces five years imprisonment over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.

Mr Fairey said he was moved by Aung San Suu Kyi in part because she had the choice to leave Myanmar.

He does not hesitate to describe his art as propaganda. Mr Fairey, 39, is best known as a street artist and graphic designer. His work has ranged from ironic representations of the professional wrestler Andre the Giant to album covers for rockers including the Smashing Pumpkins.

He acknowledged that propaganda had historical baggage. But he said his intent was not to lionise Mr Obama or Aung San Suu Kyi but to drum up awareness and encourage the public to reach its own conclusions.

'Even if it's not as pervasive as the Obama image, I think it (the Aung San Suu Kyi portrait) could lead to more interest and that's always good,' he said. -- AFP