Written by John Irvin                           No. 3                                           January 1, 1999

SRIJAI KUNTAWANG

It looks like tapestry: the colors are soft browns and blues, the background contains a pattern of flowers, and the bottom strip of the picture has a row of small elephants walking against a blue background. The subject that dominates the painting, a large brown elephant, seems more stylized than real. Its head and body are portrayed in geometric lines, and the head faces the opposite direction from the body, so that only one eye can be seen. The legs are staggered so that even from the side all four of them are visible. "Lanna 4/1997" is one of many woodcut prints by Srijai Kuntawang which bring a modern feel to traditional northern Thai themes.

Srijai, a Lamphun artist who teaches in Chiang Mai at Rajamangkala Institute at Jed Yod, creates these prints to tell the stories of Lanna culture. But in bringing the old stories to modern times, he borrows modern ideas of presentation and intermixes them with the traditional techniques. He depicts familiar subjects like elephants, chickens, and temples, but he often incorporates geometric shapes such as circles and rectangles into their form. He uses soft and organic colors, but the surface of his prints often have a metallic cast to them. His scenes are two dimensional, use of effects such as shadow have been eliminated. Perspective, such as the figure of the elephant, is changed to suit the purpose of the depiction, so that, in the case of the elephant, it can be seen both from the front and from the side at the same time. In this way, Srijai brings abstraction to his traditional subjects.

"I did this work to remind people of the elephant, and how he has helped mankind," Srijai of "Lanna 4/1997." But the elephants, he said, are also there to remind us of the people themselves, and the work they have done. At the bottom of the print is a row of smaller elephants, each one different. "They are different from each other just as people are different from each other," the artist said. The flowers, which are rather abstract, show the goodness of mankind, which comes from having the proper aim in life.

"Lanna 5/1997" shows a procession of roosters on the horizon of a field. Lines in the field, formed by the joining of the flowers that grow there, go straight up toward the horizon without joining together, so that the foreground does not approach the viewer, but instead seems flat and vertical. The roosters themselves are stately, like ships passing through a review in front of a king. The sky is formed by light blue swirls around stars, in much the same way as Van Gogh employed in "Starry Night." The feathers of the roosters themselves are also patterns formed by concentric circles, loops and curves, with lots of fine detail, almost like an etching. The main colors in the roosters, a combination of golds and oranges, are also intermixed with blue from the sky, and small amounts of other colors.

Lanna 5/1997, Srijai Kuntawang, Woodcut Print    © Srijai Kuntawang

"The flowers in the field below the roosters are like people who are considered ordinary by society," said the artist. "The roosters at the top are like the people who succeed or who stand out in life." A close inspection of the flowers in the grass reveals that they are not real flowers but shapes like diamonds or tiny lamps, but their effect in the field makes them take on the appearance of flowers.

The artist described how he makes a print, showing me some of his tools and materials. The scene must first be carved out of a piece of wood the same size as the print, but fairly thin. As each layer is cut away, the artist applies printing ink in various colors, and the wood is then pressed against the paper. This is followed by more carving, and more pressing, so that a single print may involve more than ten pressings. The fine details as seen in the feathers, swirls, and flowers are all carved in wood before being pressed onto the paper.

Srijai plans his pictures carefully, and pays a lot of attention to creating balanced compositions. "I put much effort into the harmony of color and the design," said Srijai. The horizon in "Lanna 5/1997" divides the picture into two main color areas with the subject, the procession of chickens, near the top. "Lanna 4/1997," the elephant, has no background or foreground, only a subject, the elephant, plus the strip along the bottom. But by depicting the elephant in rectangles, triangles, and other many-sided figures, and leaving no organic curves except for the tusks and the curling trunk, the artist gives us an elephant so unique looking that it can hold our attention as a subject.

Color also plays an important role in Srijai’s prints. Color from printing ink can be soft in the lighter shades, like cobalt blue and brown, or darker, like the dark reds and purples used in some of the night scenes. The color is flat, not deep, and seems naturally suited for representing traditional scenes. However, sometimes the colors have a metallic quality to them, so that the entire picture seem to shine suddenly depending on the angle of the light. By changing positions, the viewer is sometimes treated to a change in colors: from straight on, a print may be mostly browns, but by changing the viewing position, it may take on a blue or green effect.

Many of Srijai’s works depict the ascension of the spirit toward heaven, as explained in Buddhist philosophy. This can be seen in "Lanna 1997" and "March in Lanna /1995," two prints which show temple stupas, reaching above walls of design toward the sky. The walls of design are made of strips, or layers, which may contain geometric shapes, or elephants, or other objects. By going from the bottom to the top of these pictures, the viewer can trace the path of enlightenment of the spirit. Speaking about these prints, Srijai commented, "If we have the goodness to aim ourselves, we will have a good life."

Srijai also employs many common animals and objects as symbols in his work. "Some artists use individual symbols," said his friend Tawatchai Somkong. "Srijai uses public symbols, ones that everyone understands." Elephants can represent the efforts of human beings, or they can represent the animal itself. Flowers can be ideas, so can stars. Chickens are important animals in Lanna history, and they appear in many of Srijai’s prints.

Lanna 6/1997, Srijai Kuntawang, Woodcut Print    © Srijai Kuntawang

"Lanna 6/1997" shows a mother hen with a young chicken by her side. Srijai says that the meaning of this picture is fairly straightforward. "I did this when my wife was pregnant with my child," he said. The detail of line in the arrangement of feathers of the bird, the swirling lines of sky around the stars – which in this case are not stars but flowers pasted in the heavens – show a stylized kind of beauty and give opportunity to much color intertwined within the shapes. The mother hen’s body shape is composed of curves, half circles, and loops, and the strands of each feather are drawn out exactly almost down to the last fiber. A golden orange highlight shines out from the animal’s body, and deeper purple and brown shades provide a balance to these highlights. Flowers in the sky and in the ground up close represent good wishes of the artist for his unborn child.

Srijai Kuntawang continues to create art and teach in Chiang Mai. His works have appeared in many shows, and are enjoyable compositions of warm color, intricate detail, and design. For those interested in the marriage of Lanna values with contemporary daring to be abstract, viewing his works brings a great pleasure.
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Jirapat Jangjamras assisted in the research for this story.

© Copyright 1999, John Irvin

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