I am drawn to images and objects that resonate across seemingly disparate cultures and time periods. As a Thai American raised mostly in the midwest, I am interested in imagery that is “culturally familiar” through its connection to folktales and shared traditions, particularly imagery that evokes a reverence for rural life.
The work acknowledges motifs that have been translated across multiple formats; textiles, costumes, theater, architecture, and small useful objects which allow the symbols, characters and stories to connect and continue “traveling” through time and space. Within this context, my work attempts to engage with traditions of making and exchange through the construction of animal and nature motif paintings that have the appearance of being “well-worn” or “inherited.”
I consider the movement of interpreted ideas onto various forms across national borders and throughout history, and their shape-shifting reanimation as they introduce new modes of being. The three-dimensional quality of my paintings address this notion of multiplicity, and a fluid approach to form, flatness, and image becomes necessary.
