Written by John Irvin                           No. 1                                           December 10, 1997

ROONGROJ PAIMYOSSAK

The paintings of Roongroj Paimyossak are sometimes rough in texture, like a homemade instrument or Thai silk. His paintings have been displayed recently at Fai Sor Kam, a fabric and arts shop on Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 1, and at the Gallery Restaurant, a combination art gallery and restaurant, on Charoenrat Road in Chiang Mai. Roongroj uses lots of browns in his paintings so that they almost seem like an extension of the wood, something that has grown naturally there. They have a very organic feeling about them. Their surfaces may be raised by thick layers of paint, like the surface of a relief map.

"Always Remember" is one such painting. The composition is fairly uncluttered, having only a human subject – a woman lying on her side – and a hazy, empty background in various shades of brown. The woman is wearing a traditional northern Thai garment with a red top which goes around her neck and leaves her midriff open. The view of her torso is partially blocked by an object – a pillow, perhaps, or her knee – in front of it. Her body position is somewhat ambiguous, and with the clouded background, it forces the viewer study the painting very carefully to understand it.

Her arm extends upward around her head, and here the brownish background seems to envelope her so that her entire appearance has the quality of being in a dream. Her eyes have a faraway look, which reflect on the title: always remember. Is she remembering something or someone, or is someone else remembering her? She might be a lover, thinking about a special person, or her lover might be visualizing her in this pose. The painting and its title become a riddle in perception: is the viewer looking at the woman, or someone else’s perception of her?

"My paintings can mean whatever the viewer wants them to mean," Roongroj told me when I asked him about this painting. "People can see themselves in my art."

I visited Roongroj Paimyossak at his house in Sanpatong. The house is a series of buildings that extend back from one of the narrow roads of village. There is a living quarters, a studio, and several other buildings. Plants and trees give the place natural beauty and a feeling of serenity.

Dressed in a T-shirt, and comfortable pants, and with his long hair tied back, Roongroj presented the appearance of someone relaxed and yet thoughtful at the same time. He had a gentle manner and smiled occasionally as we spoke. He seemed to be a person in touch with himself and the world around him. We sat on the porch and talked about his work.

He is a native of Sanpatong, but he went to Silapakorn University in Bangkok to study art. After graduation he returned to Chiang Mai. When he came back he went to the village of Bantawai, in Sanpatong, where he lived and learned the art of making things that the villagers make for themselves. He began making Burmese style crafts, before they were a popular tourist item here in Thailand. Many of the titles of his paintings are in northern Thai dialect.

I asked him what factors have influenced his work. He began by saying that he has always wanted to use different elements in his art. He named Buddhism and nature as two important examples. "I feel that there is something religious about art for me. It is not the subject but the feeling of inner peace that I get when I make the art." Roongroj added that he likes human subjects. "Painting is like a meditation for me because I focus on the artwork, and not myself."

As a child Roongroj claims he was not eager to be an artist. "I liked looking at trees, clouds… things that could not speak," he said of his childhood. "I felt a connection… I felt they were my friends." Now, Roongroj says, he would like to act as a medium of expression for these elements, the trees and the clouds.

Joy From Making Merit, Roongroj Paimyossak    © Roongroj Paimyossak

"Joy From Making Merit," is a different kind of painting from "Always Remember." Instead of an organic study in browns, this painting is smooth and clean, with lots of whites and off-whites, to give it a very finished quality. The painting depicts three women dressed in northern Thai clothing, and they appear to be dancing. Their pha sin – the garment that they wear over their shoulders – extend down the length of their bodies and well beyond their feet, but rather than lying on the floor, the garments appear to be dancing also, filled with waves and reflecting the movements of the women. The women in the painting are carrying parasols, or rom, which are seen not in their oval shape, but exactly from the side, so that the line and texture of the rom, and not their roundness, is what the viewer sees.

The background is a smoothly textured off-white, with two areas of detailed pattern. The wooden railing behind the women, with its sharp outline and dark brown color, seems to almost jump out from the wall, and the white that shows through between the posts is vivid and bright. In the foreground, there is a black and white checkered pattern. The figures of the women themselves stand out because they are dark against the white background, with very few areas of red and yellow for accent.

The women are smiling and seem to be very content – are they making "merit" or "merry"? In Thai language, the actual title is "Tan Bun Suk La," which means to receive joy from bringing food for the monks. In other words, by giving gifts, or showing kindness, or showing reverence for sacred things, we can receive the reward of happiness that will make us want to dance and sing.

I asked him to explain more about his artwork, and how the viewer could perceive it and understand it. "The viewer has the freedom to interpret the artwork on his own," Roongroj said, refusing to assume a dogmatic position about his own work. "The artist is not important; it is the artwork that is important."

He made a sketch to demonstrate what he meant. "I see the subject," he said, indicating a circle on the page, "and I paint the artwork," indicating another place on the page. "When people look at a painting, they see themselves," he said. In other words, the artist does not replicate the subject, he only draws what is in his mind. The viewer, in turn, sees what is in his or her mind. So, we "see ourselves" because we see our interpretation of the painting.

Thitichai Porncharoenroj, the owner of Fai Sor Kam, where some of these paintings have been displayed, explained to me that he buys paintings from artists like Roongroj and others because they need the money. "If I don’t help them, they don’t have the money to learn in school." The walls of his shop are lined with the paintings of Roongroj and several other artists.

When I asked him about the future and his work, Roongroj was consistent with his Buddhist and natural philosophy. "My artwork is like a meditation, and because of this I cannot predict what I will do next, nor explain what I did before."
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© Copyright 1997, John Irvin

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