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