media art based on the stories, nature, and environment found the Thai society under the influence of
modern technology, and thereafter installation art using various materials, including wood, metal,
brass, bronze, aluminum, clothes, earthenware, scraps, and finished materials. In that period,
mixed media work creation was done with painting processes, of which the contents dealt with
life, society, and environment along with traditional philosophy, scientific progress, and current
beliefs influenced by Buddhist ones as well as the future world (Department of Cultural Promotion,
Ministry of Culture, 2002).
After his solo exhibition “Modern Existence 1992” at the National Gallery in February 1992,
Vichoke’s image as a “mixed media artist” became known in the spheres of artists, art theories,
critics, collectors, and the public interested in art in Thai society. The artwork in the exhibition
was created with many forms of materials, such as twigs, metal sheets, clothes and nylon ropes,
ceramics, newspaper sheets, plastic sheets and tubes, gold leaf, spray colors, oil colors, watercolors,
acrylic colors, and so on. Art materials were mixed with natural, industrial, and ready-made
ones to show colors and shapes that yielded “symbols” reflecting the artist’s perspectives toward
the changing circumstances of the era which impacted people’s lives. The artist stated in the
exhibition catalog that “Life, mankind, nature, environment and all other things are influenced
by modern technology and material prosperity. The modern existence consists of both conflicts
and relationships in the forms of hidden beauty, completeness, and power. The said circumstance
and atmosphere has given me concepts and driven me to express them through fine art creation,
which focuses on contents of shapes with structures and symbols that convey and reflect the current
modern existence” (Mukdamanee, 1992).
3.2 The Artworks
For over 40 years in his art career, Vichoke Mukdamanee has created many mixed media works,
originating from his interest in the bonds between the environment, technology, and life. The
used materials reflect the artist’s perspectives toward the change in external factors. The artwork
expanded into more profound concepts related to life, referring to rural life, Buddhist philosophy,
and a family’s love and bond. The artist attempted to establish a link between his concepts and
internal overflowing emotions (love, happiness, suffering, and sadness) and express it through
painting and collage—assembly and installation. The artist was able to manage the materials to
present the contents without losing the materials’ original objective value and at the same time
express his identity. Whether a particular piece of work was made of paper, wood, metal, or plastic,
its certain identities explicitly conveyed the artist’s signature. Vichoke stated “I usually started
many pieces of work by drawing to generate shapes, movements and compositions. Afterwards, I
gradually added techniques onto the work again and again till I was satisfied: patching, coloring,
painting, perforating, and adding textures. Some criticized me that my additions were too much,
but I think individual moderation is different, depending on individual tastes. As an artist, I added
details till I was satisfied and felt that the materials in front were well managed and belonged to
me. The big picture should be able to represent myself…” (Mukdamanee, 2007).
Looking back at Vichoke’s work between 1974 and 1984, when the artist graduated from the
Department of Painting, the Faculty of Painting Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University,
until he received a scholarship to continue his study at the Faculty of Art and Design, Tokyo
Gakugei University in Tokyo, Vichoke showed his interest in the study of a human’s structural
shape through the creation of oil paints on canvas. The influence of the art of Cubism led by Pablo
Picasso and Georges Barque, which was spreading to the contemporary art sphere in Thailand,
inspired Vichoke to analyze and curtail the shapes and movements of human bodies to become
an overlapping area, yielding a semi-abstract monochrome work in a solemn atmosphere. The flat
plate shapes appearing in Vichoke’s painting were adjusted to show weight, depth, and complexity,
yielding a seemingly living, moving structure, aligned with his explanation in the catalog of the
exhibition “Modern Existence.” The artist himself talked about his work in the period “…I used
shapes derived from architectural structures and human bodies to create paintings. The shapes were
to move in accordance with the movement of human bodies under an architectural structure of a
5
modern technology, and thereafter installation art using various materials, including wood, metal,
brass, bronze, aluminum, clothes, earthenware, scraps, and finished materials. In that period,
mixed media work creation was done with painting processes, of which the contents dealt with
life, society, and environment along with traditional philosophy, scientific progress, and current
beliefs influenced by Buddhist ones as well as the future world (Department of Cultural Promotion,
Ministry of Culture, 2002).
After his solo exhibition “Modern Existence 1992” at the National Gallery in February 1992,
Vichoke’s image as a “mixed media artist” became known in the spheres of artists, art theories,
critics, collectors, and the public interested in art in Thai society. The artwork in the exhibition
was created with many forms of materials, such as twigs, metal sheets, clothes and nylon ropes,
ceramics, newspaper sheets, plastic sheets and tubes, gold leaf, spray colors, oil colors, watercolors,
acrylic colors, and so on. Art materials were mixed with natural, industrial, and ready-made
ones to show colors and shapes that yielded “symbols” reflecting the artist’s perspectives toward
the changing circumstances of the era which impacted people’s lives. The artist stated in the
exhibition catalog that “Life, mankind, nature, environment and all other things are influenced
by modern technology and material prosperity. The modern existence consists of both conflicts
and relationships in the forms of hidden beauty, completeness, and power. The said circumstance
and atmosphere has given me concepts and driven me to express them through fine art creation,
which focuses on contents of shapes with structures and symbols that convey and reflect the current
modern existence” (Mukdamanee, 1992).
3.2 The Artworks
For over 40 years in his art career, Vichoke Mukdamanee has created many mixed media works,
originating from his interest in the bonds between the environment, technology, and life. The
used materials reflect the artist’s perspectives toward the change in external factors. The artwork
expanded into more profound concepts related to life, referring to rural life, Buddhist philosophy,
and a family’s love and bond. The artist attempted to establish a link between his concepts and
internal overflowing emotions (love, happiness, suffering, and sadness) and express it through
painting and collage—assembly and installation. The artist was able to manage the materials to
present the contents without losing the materials’ original objective value and at the same time
express his identity. Whether a particular piece of work was made of paper, wood, metal, or plastic,
its certain identities explicitly conveyed the artist’s signature. Vichoke stated “I usually started
many pieces of work by drawing to generate shapes, movements and compositions. Afterwards, I
gradually added techniques onto the work again and again till I was satisfied: patching, coloring,
painting, perforating, and adding textures. Some criticized me that my additions were too much,
but I think individual moderation is different, depending on individual tastes. As an artist, I added
details till I was satisfied and felt that the materials in front were well managed and belonged to
me. The big picture should be able to represent myself…” (Mukdamanee, 2007).
Looking back at Vichoke’s work between 1974 and 1984, when the artist graduated from the
Department of Painting, the Faculty of Painting Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University,
until he received a scholarship to continue his study at the Faculty of Art and Design, Tokyo
Gakugei University in Tokyo, Vichoke showed his interest in the study of a human’s structural
shape through the creation of oil paints on canvas. The influence of the art of Cubism led by Pablo
Picasso and Georges Barque, which was spreading to the contemporary art sphere in Thailand,
inspired Vichoke to analyze and curtail the shapes and movements of human bodies to become
an overlapping area, yielding a semi-abstract monochrome work in a solemn atmosphere. The flat
plate shapes appearing in Vichoke’s painting were adjusted to show weight, depth, and complexity,
yielding a seemingly living, moving structure, aligned with his explanation in the catalog of the
exhibition “Modern Existence.” The artist himself talked about his work in the period “…I used
shapes derived from architectural structures and human bodies to create paintings. The shapes were
to move in accordance with the movement of human bodies under an architectural structure of a
5