CREATIVE IDEA OF HIS WORK

        Pisnu Suphanimit, an ex-Dean, Faculty of Painting Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University,

        once wrote about Thavorn and his work : “Coming so far on the path of art, Thavorn experienced

        many tesimonials. The crucial point is that he has never ceased striving with his intellects. Thus, his

        inner self is revealed in his work. He finds meaning in muteness, working from the simplicity of nature

        and leading to the realm of faith and soul. Thavorn finds great values of the universe from materials.

        ” The starting point of Thavorn’s work was his love and fascination on techniques and processes of

        graphic arts. Each time he touched a working block, he felt enthusiastic to find what image he would

        create. He worked in his own way, which is different from conventional approaches. For example,

        instead of using the right - front of printing block, he used the opposite side. Sometimes he picked up

        some materials from the street to be an element for his prints in his own style. His creative thinking

        reflected in all of his works. Thavorn always worked in series, which lasted from 3 - 5 years.

        When he finished one work, he would begin to think about a new undertaking, another track. More than

        3 decades, Thavorn revolved around a single idea, with various techniques and dimensions to express

        a particular vision. Thavorn began with fine prints, then refined and reflected memories of his own childhood.

       Lately, Thavorn experimented making prints together with other kinds of materials, entering new dimension

        with the use of mixed media. He bringing from, depth and space together into a unity. In later years, he used
       
        fewer printing techniques. There are so many printing processes and Thavorn was tired of the complications .

        When he was bored, he stopped for an entire year without making prints. When he feel better, he began to

        work again. Thavorn felt that printmaking was useful for him because he always used some blocks over and

        over again, making new and various images in a number of editions. This made him be able to send his work to

        exhibitions all over the world.Thavorn’s creative series can be divided in five periods with varying ideas.

 

"impression 1"	"objects"	"myself 1"
"stores 3" "imagine 5"

The First Period

The content of the prints in this series suggested his impressions on the significance of the past: situations,

objects, and the family relationships, which are part of life of Chinese-Thai lives. Thavorn used his own family

photographs as symbols reflecting the situation of Chinese ancestor in Chinese-Thai families.

 

"myself 1957"	"past_impression 3"	"past_impression 1"
"store 1" "grandmother 1"

The Second Period

Thavorn’s past impressions still continued in this period. He also believed that personal belongings used for

a long time would eventually become a reflection of the owner’s personality. Objects symbolized people and

generated an image of the past family relationships. In this series, objects used to convey meanings were

tables, chairs, lamps, ornaments, etc. These things represented in relief etchings, photos, silk-screens,

and collages.

 

"Ritual E/1998"	"Symbols in Ritual 1992/ 6A"	"hu1992/1"
"Rite 2535 / 3" "Gold & Silver Paper A"

The second Period

This is the period of symbols in rituals. Thavorn was interested in many Chinese rituals. When he was young ,

he enjoyed meeting cousins and travelling up country. He was a considerate one when he grew up. When

studying arts, he thought in retrospect into rituals, which reflected the way of thinking. Materials: stones and

bamboo reflected philosophy and beliefs. Moreover, Thavorn got some inspiration from joining rituals himself.

Therefore, He developthis way of using materials to present hidden ideas, beliefs, faiths, power, and imagination

from personal rituals. These materials appeared in this series that carried on for a long time, until he was

successful locally and worldwide for the idea he developed.

 

"whitechairs" "1/50" "flow" "6grity"

The fourth Period

While sitting by his father’s bed in the hospital, Thavorn studied the Lord Buddha’s preaching from religious

books and sermons of the Reverend Cha and Reverend Buddhatas. He perceived an idea, “Things change

according to its own nature or law, be soft and strong like water adjust directions to the container”.

The profound teachings inspired him to chose many kinds of media for new series of collages, for example,

using rocks and gold color.

 

"The Natural Form 1997"	"Fetish 1995 / k7"	"The Form of Fetish 1997"
"Fetish 1998 / 5" "Fetish /1998"

The fifth Period

This period was called “ Belief without Reason”. Despite the development of education, science and technology,

beliefs in superstitions or sacred objects still had power on Thai society. The artist observed superstitious belief

in amulets among Buddhist laity. He used a variety of symbols to treat this concept, using forms of different

objects to suggest different meanings. In this series, Thavorn compared objects in nature such as rocks and

dry wood. He concluded that amulets for good life actually reflected hidden fears. In the contrary, the objects

born out of natural processes reveal Dharma, the essential path to inner peace.