| Imagine a westerner living in
Thailand. People from many regions of the world may live and work here for various
reasons, but one always brings one’s ‘self’. Add to this the fact that the westerner
is an artist involved with the pursuit of his own creative activity. Often, either
consciously or otherwise, what may be called ‘the personal’, or the phenomenon of
human desire as reflected in the life of the individual, becomes part of one’s creative
expression. The consideration of
culture, one’s own or that of a host country, such as our westerner in relation to
Thailand, is also a part of one’s creative expression. And culture can mean so many
things, say the iconography of human figures pictured on a temple wall, albeit a tiny
fragment of a much larger aspect of culture. In this instance, one could say the culture
of Thailand, but there are overlaps with similar manifestations in western culture too. Or
the sense of correspondence between those fresco figures and human adults in real life,
singly or in small groups, who languish in the Bangkok parks.
Imagine these considerations brought together in the
self-reflective artwork. That is, the artwork not as political, social or moral message,
particularly, nor for purposes of commercial gain, although many such issues can be built
into it, but the artwork as attempting serious investigation into the nature of the
activity.
I am involved with an ongoing series of paintings that reflects an interest in
Thailand.
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