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At the end of January 2015, I had an opportunity to participate in the opening ceremony of Art Exchange Exhibition Thai – Polish at CMUArtCenter, ChiangMaiUniversity. There were many visitors and artists from Thailand and Poland. Thai National Artists were the guests of honor for this opening ceremony. A dazzling night as it was the first day of the exhibition. It was a cooperative effort between professors of the faculty of Fine Arts and a team of lecturers who participated in the exchange of education programs and field trips in Poland. As I remember, two national artists Kamol Tassananchalee and Decha Warashoon were invited to that opening ceremony as well.
In this issue, I would like to present an interesting Thai artist whom I met for the first time at the Art Exchange Exhibition. He works as a lecturer for many universities in Thailand. His profession is somewhat different from other lecturers in Thailand since he was an ambassador of art in Thailand to many countries with his intention to elevate Thai Art with exhibitions and workshops connected all over the world. With his experience as an alumnus of UCLA,USA, he selected artists including freelancers from many institutes to attend workshops and exhibitions overseas. Not so simple for artists from Thailand to use their own budget to be visiting artists abroad but with his support, artists from Asia would eventually work together.
Wattanachot’s works are remarkable and his trains of thought are shown in a series of artworks that reveal a harmonious mixture of social and natural environments. He is keen on teaching arts to students and is regarded as avant-garde. After coming back to his homeland, he brought what he saw abroad and created new, imaginative pieces of artwork. Looking at his works, we can see the identity, stability and richness of his imagination. He received many awards from various exhibitions. He also had his own studio called 56 Art Studio in NakhonSawanProvince.
Here is the interview:
JY: What is the major inspiration in your painting?
WT: Most of my inspiration comes from both social and natural environments that I have encountered throughout my entire life. Firstly, the “Mask” collection reflects the different personalities of people in society. There are good and bad people. The bad ones try to hide their faces under the mask made of human skin. (Most works in this collection were prints and drawings but some are paintings). Secondly, the “Oriental Mind” collection was mostly made with handmade paper. I brought many objects that were used in daily life by people of different ethnicity in Asia. Religions, beauty, traditions and cultures were intentionally exhibited to show the spirit of Asian races that preserved their long-lasting way of life and cultures. Thirdly, the “Dreamscape” collection was inspired by my trips to many countries. I saw breathtaking scenery
and experienced the serenity of nature. I absorbed that atmosphere in my mind and recreated it. The final and latest collection I like to tell you is “Earth & Sky” that is inspired by the stories from my son who is studying geology. There are precious things beneath the Earth such as energy, minerals and gems but they are hidden and cannot be seen by our eyes. Earth, water, wind and fire are four elements that have inseparable relationships with everything in the world.
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JY: Tell me about yourself, your education and career?
WT: I was born on 18 September 1960 in NakhonSawanProvince in the upper central region of Thailand. I received a diploma from ThaivichitsilpSchool and an advanced diploma in Printmaking from Poh Chang Academy of Arts. For Bachelor’s degree in Arts studies, I applied toSrinakharinwirotUniversity, Bangsaen Campus in ChonburiProvince (The university was renamed to Burapha University in 1990). After graduation, I went to the USA and got a certificate of Computer Graphics from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Later on, I acquired an honorary Master’s degree in Design from RajabhatUniversity, Nakhon Sawan. For my career, during the period of two years from 1986 – 1988 I was a lecturer in the Arts Studies department, Faculty of Humanity, SrinakharinwirotUniversity,PhitsanulokProvince. After that I spent time on many other things apart from teaching
students. From 1992 – 2000 was the time I worked for various companies.
- Art Director for Manager Newspaper and KL&P (Asia) Co.,Ltd.
- Creative Director for Aspac 21 Corporation, Ltd.
- Managing Director for QUARTET Graphics Corp., Ltd.
Apart from work in private companies, I was also a guest lecturer for Rajabhat University, Nakhon Sawan Province and Burapha University in Chonburi Province.
Previous awards and accomplishments from Thailand and abroad
- Excellent alumnus of the faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, BuraphaUniversity .
- Excellent alumnus of Poh Chang Academy of Arts (Rajamankala Rattanakosin University of Technology).
- First Award in Painting from Five universities’ Art exhibition at Tali City, China.
- Gold medal award from Jeonbuk Art Biennale, Korea.
- Outstanding award from Shanghai International Art Exhibition, Shanghai City, China.
Art exhibitions in the future
- Art Exchange Exhibition Thai – Nepal at Kathmandu City, Nepal during October 2018.
- Luxor International Painting Symposium atLuxor City, Egypt during December 2018.
- SINERGIA International Painting Exhibition at Tijuanna City, Mexico during March 2019.
- Selected as one of the seven artists from seven countries (Thailand, USA,Japan, Poland, Germany,India and Italy) to work and exhibit works in Napoli City, Italy during April 2019.
- Invited to give lectures and exhibit works at art institute at Warsaw City, Poland during May 2019.
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