Andaman: New paintings by Napaphat Niamkhunthod
Drawing on her long experience of observing the sea, Napaphat creates works of beauty, engulfing the viewer in immense space and intense colour.
Over the years she has found herself drawn back time and time again to working by the sea. There is constant change within the shifting tides and the colours of the sea and sky are transformed from one moment to the next.
“By painting the sea and often the same sea over and over again I paint the experience and not the thing. I depict what is happening. It is always fresh and new”.
In the studio the work becomes a distillation of key elements rather than a description in detail. She explores the boundaries where abstract marks come together to form a coherent image.
This is a fine balance. If there is too much recognition the imagination switches off as there is no mystery.
“The Andaman ocean, such a vast expanse of space is full of mystery. It is more than anything we can understand, though it speaks a common language to us all”.
The works are vibrant and exciting...
‘All This, and Perhaps…’ by Tom Pugh
“There has always been a part of me that rejects reality as insufficient” he says, “Let’s face it. Reality is not enough; it never has been and never will be. But fortunately, it includes many grey areas, blank days and quiet nights where we can enhance the real world with imagination. And it’s an important thing to do. In fact, it could be said that reality is merely a starting point. It is the threshold to a higher world of dreams and possibilities”.
In this new series of paintings, the artist explores this boundary. Lush sumptuous colours and tropical themes seduce the viewer into feeling rather than thinking what is real. “Because in art, truth is what you feel” he says, “and all stories are true”. There is always a narrative in every painting but it is left open or ambiguous. It allows the viewer to ‘project in’, to imagine the rest and create meaning.
“These paintings are for people who carve out a path in life, not only follow one”.
Phang Nga Bay by Tom Pugh.
A collection of mixed media works depicting the artist's memories of a boat trip around Thailand's Phang Nga Bay.
The work is primarily about memory itself. The great storehouse of the past: the home of all emotions felt, images and scenes witnessed, techniques learnt and skills acquired. Just as the internet would be useless without a browser, so memory is nothing without imagination. That is the active principle which operates there. Now selecting, reducing and distilling, now merging, joining and combining to create the new. It is imagination that holds the key to the future.
"He who controls the past controls the future", George Orwell.
A Light in the Darkness by Praseart Kongwutthawet
Working with traditional and ancient Buddhist themes, Praseart is constantly looking for essence, for what is real and eternal.
"So much of what we think of life is transient and unimportant" he says
Often placing the subject against a dark background Praseart is able to intensify the light tones, sometimes with harsh contrast and sometimes with a soft transition into the darkness.
"Light is what I'm interested in. Light is energy, it's life, it's everything. Darkness is nothing"
Praseart's collectors are worldwide