Tinnakorn Kasornsuwan can be said to enjoy
a successful life of his own making. At just 33 years of age,
he has managed to combine a career as a working artist with his
duties as an art instructor in the Department of lmaging Art,
Faculty of Fine Arts at Srinakarinwirot University, Prasanmitr
campus. He has already gained a tremendous amount of experience
through his participation in a wide range of artistic activities.
He has repeatedly been recognized as one of the country's best
young artists at both private and government-sponsored exhibitions.
His etchings have won awards at numerous international shows.
Tinnakorn's work has been featured in various group and individual
exhibits both in Thailand and abroad, including Japan, Britain,
and Taiwan. It is particularly impressive that his etchings have
been the subject of a solo exhibit in Japan, a country with a
long and rich printmaking tradition.
The works currently on display at the Surapon
Gallery attest to Tinnakorn's creative and technical gifts. The
selection of color etchings, oil paintings and ceramic pieces
makes for an interesting mix of forms and styles. By combining
different artistic media, each with its own distinct character,
the show provides viewers with a highly entertaining and informative
experience.
Many of Tinnakorn's works have a semi-representational
style, the forms and figures they contain reflecting the artist's
own experiences and his love for the folklore and simple way
of life of Thailand's farmers.
Perhaps the most outstanding works on display
are the color etchings, whose primary visual elements and composition
consist of everyday objects floating freely in space. The works
express the hopes of rural people for a good harvest, plentiful
rice and enough food to eat - in other words, for the fulfilment
of their basic needs.
Images of plants, fish, plows, sickles, haystacks,
and fishtraps, for instance, which appear to float within the
shape of a house or a cottonflower or a gourd, evoke feelings
of abundance and fertility. They are a clear reflection of the
concerns of rural life. Boats floating by in the sky and a fish
large enough to fill a house convey, in a whimsical way, the
notion of a whole household with enough food to eat. Works like
these, which blend real and fanciful images, have a surrealistic
feeling, like daydreams.
Tinnakorn's paintings and ceramics have a
very relaxed and playful character. Brush strokes seem to flow
freely across the canvas and clay, energizing the work. Line,
color and superimposed forms combine to create two-dimensional
surfaces that reflect common scenes from everyday life, which
are both instantly recognizable and unique. The only difference
is that the ceramic pieces, with translucent layers of color,
have the freshness and delicacy of watercolors.
The works selected for this solo exhibit show
clearly that form and technique is merely tools for self-expression,
and that content and concept are one.
Asst. Prof. Sriwan Janehuttakamkit
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