DRAWING ON THAINESS
Painter Chusit Wijarnjoragij used impressive art skills for the upcoming Miss Universe pageant to express his love for the royal family
One day in August, the month of National Mother’s Day, Chusit Wijarnjoragij was given one of the most challenging tasks in his life: to be the key visual artist for the 2018 Miss Universe pageant taking place in Thailand. He started working right away, his brain and hands moved fast, putting flowers and stars on paper while the main theme music of the contest was played in his home studio.
His studio was already full of portraits of the royal family that he painted himself, especially those of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, whom he deeply loves and respects.
“I designed seven emblems for use as key visual art for this year’s Miss Universe pageant. The six floral patterns are for celebrating the 66th birthday of His Majesty the King while the peacock crown emblem is in honour of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. It is inspired by the peacock, the queen of birds which is also the symbol of Thai silk certified by the Queen’s Support Foundation,” Chusit remarked.
The Miss Universe pageant has already kicked off, with the 95 contestants checking in at the Dusit Thani hotel last Friday. A gala dinner will be held on Wednesday, along with a “Thai Night”, the first showcase of pomp and elegance. A national costume parade will take place at Nong Nuch Park on Dec 10, and the finalists will go to Impact Arena on Dec 17, at 7am, for the final round and the crowning of the new beauty queen. Chusit’s design of motifs, patterns and embellishments will be visible throughout all these events.
“I combined my personal inspirations to try to represent Thainess and Thai beauty by using the curves and lines of flowers,” said the 45-year-old artist. “Flowers stand for women and beauty. My inspirations are not limited to flowers and stars but also star motifs on temple ceilings according to ancient beliefs. However, I created allnew patterns using the outlines and forms of flowers.”
The concept behind the design is to mix the legends of six flowers related to Queen Sirikit and the star constellation. Of the selected six types of flowers, four were named in honour of the queen. They are Dona Queen Sirikit ( Mussaenda
philippica “Queen Sirikit”), Mahaphrom Rachini ( Mitrephora sirikitiae), Mok Rachini ( Wrightia sirikitiae) and Queen Sirikit Water Lily ( Nymphaea Queen Sirikit).
Another one is a wild flower that the Queen gave the name “Sarassa Chandhorn” ( Bur
mannia coelestis D. Don). The last but most important is the daffodil, or dararat in Thai, literally meaning “the star of precious gems”. This flower also has been symbolised as the “Flower Of Remembrance” because it was often presented by the King Bhumibol Adulyadej to Queen Sirikit when she was his fiancée several decades ago.
The six modernised emblems of flowers and stars as well as the peacock crown symbol will be infused with traditional Thai patterns. It will be used for all activities of the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Thailand, but not intended to replace the official Miss Universe logo.
“During research, I tried to find flowers that have outlines and details that can be turned into delicate Thai motifs and also contain good meanings,” Chusit said.
Chusit said he studied photos of flowers a nd watched video clips of previous Miss Universe U editions — in addition to his own in nspiration — in order to come up with a design d that expresses both Thai and international n elements.
He sketched each drawing by starting fr rom the outline of floral petals and gradual lly going into details. He first used a pencil an nd then sepia ink on paper before turning th he design into digital form.
Chusit did a lot of sketches and drew more m than six kinds of flowers, not just th hose related to Queen Sirikit. But the sk ketches of flowers associated with the Queen’s Q name turned out to be the finest.
After that, he presented the sketches and th he digital version to more than 10 executi ives of the Thai organiser TPN 2018, the production p team and several Thai designer rs for the pageant for consideration and v oting. The entire process took almost tw wo months.
“Every one of my motifs are unique, cl lassic and contemporary. The work repre esents Thainess in the international arena,” Chusit C said.
Chusit is well-known for his portrait paintings p and figurative art that use old masters’ m techniques. He has a passion fo or ancient civilisation and the arts. As he majored m in painting and minored in Thai
ar rt at the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic G Arts, Silpakorn University, his style is a fine combination of traditional Thai an nd Western art.
His idols are National Artist Chakrabhand h Posayakrit, famed for his traditional
ar rt style, and the late National Artist Thawan Duchanee, D who explored Buddhism in the su urrealist mode.
In the early years of his career, he re enowned for his realistic classical style that fo ocused on the beauty of women in Thai li terature and mythology. He was highly in nfluenced by Chakrabhand who later ta aught him how to paint portraits, royal decorations, d attire and jewellery.
Chusit also applies an ancient European p ainting technique from the 14th century, si imilar to the style of Leonardo Da Vinci. As A a sophomore at Silpakorn University, he le earned from a visiting German professor th he technique of egg tempera paint. His fi irst oil painting in the old European style depicts d a woman from Thai mythology.
In 1997, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in n fine arts with honours from Silpakorn University. U In 2005, he was named an Artist Member M of the California Art Club, in the United U States. Two years later, he went to th he US to study English to prepare for art sc chool and attended workshops at several at teliers before winning First Prize at the American Artist Magazine 70th Anniversary Art Competition.
Chusit was suggested by Thawan to further his studies by emphasising the style of Dutch painter Rembrandt. He later won the Leslie T. Posey Foundation Scholarship and was accepted to study for a Master of Fine Arts at New York Academy of Art in 2012. In 2013, he was chosen as one of seven artists for the Demonstration-Painting from the Past exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In 2014, he graduated from the New York Academy of Art.
I TRIED TO REPRESENT THAI BEAUTY BY USING THE CURVES AND LINES OF FLOWERS
“I chose Rembrandt. It’s not copying. I must stand and paint in front of Rembrandt’s b paintings. I must work precisely and a decipher his painting techniques step s by step and mixed and applied simil lar colours. While I was working, many people p came to see and comment. It was not n easy, but many people gave compliments m to me. My visits and workshops at th he MET allowed me to see many artists’ works w and were a turning point in my life,” Chusit C recalled.
Over t he years, Chusit has won several s national and international awards and a contributed several of his paintings for th he production of greeting cards for charity causes, c such as for the Community Children d Foundation.
The artist dearly loves and respects the royal r family and expresses his love for them th hrough his paintings. In 2004, he painted a portrait of Queen Sirikit for the cover of
D Dichan Magazine’s August issue to celebrate e the Queen’s 72nd birthday. This painting p was purchased by the president of o Thai Farmers Bank who subsequently presented p it to the Queen.
In 2015, he painted the portrait of King Bhumibol B and Queen Sirikit for the covers of o Dichan Magazine’s August and December b issues. He was one of the artists selected for fo three art exhibitions in Bangkok as tributes u to King Bhumibol in 2016 and 2017.
“I created the art [for the 2018 Miss Universe v pageant] due to my love and faith. On O the Thai people’s behalf, I have done my m best as a way to express our gratitude t owards Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and His Majesty M the King,” Chusit said proudly. “The main m theme combines symbols that are meaningful m for Thais.”