Artist : Panya Vijinthanasarn
Technique : Acrylic on canvas
Year : 1990
Size : 31 x 27 cm.

“I created this painting when I came back from London from working at Wat Buddhapadipa in 1988. I’d spent three and a half years there. Since then, my painting style has evolved. The content changed from visualising Thai traditions to a more contemporary point of view, to create more abstract works. You can find signs of those changes in this painting.  I started to see changes in Thai society influenced by commercial industries and technology. We as a society had evolved from a localised community to an urban society; from a small agriculture villages to industrial farmers . The image on the right side of the painting depicts barn-like architectures which references the agricultural society; whereas, on the left there are geometric shapes that represents the industrial society as a contrast to the barns. The triangle in resting at the bottom of the painting has natural scenes painted inside to narrate the daily local life. Next to it is an irregular pentagon pointing up that embraces modernisation. Right above it is a portrait of monk’s face looking down, I wanted to convey a sense of morality and ethics. A rapid growing society that lacks in those things will have problem with its development. This artwork was created by using free-form shapes that appeared from brush strokes and geometric shapes that embodies stable structures. The free-form shapes may look like that they have movement, like the constant rotational movements of the galaxy.” – Panya Vijinthanasarn