ANUPONG CHANTORN
Celebrated for the award-winning but controversial collection “Bhikkhu Sandan Ka”, meaning crow-like monks, the art instructor at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang continually raises questions about goodness through his works — Girl With Earrings;
Black Earrings; and Black Panther, which were painted on local cloths from different provinces. The ideas for his paintings came when he visited villages in the countryside and found there was no young people because they had left the communities to study or work.
“The information reminded me about news of young women who worked as part-time prostitutes. They didn’t only leave their hometowns, but they also give up their humanity and their soul for money. The earring in the painting is a symbol of sex,” Anupong explained.
The artist liked to paint on fabric that related to his stories. In “Bhikkhu Sandan Ka”, he painted on the robes of monks. For Believes, he chose to paint on local fabrics that he bought from villages.
“Each fabric has different colour, texture, pattern and detail. It was enjoyable to imagine how the form of the fabric would fit with a story. When I saw the black fabric, I visualised nighttime and used it to paint Black Panther. Painting black colours on the black fabric added attractive and mysterious dimensions to it. A bright colour was added to the woman’s lip to be more appealing. The woman in Black Panther reflects the story of a woman who records the number of her sex partners,” the artist said.