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This month I would like to introduce another printmaking artist from the south of Thailand. He is an alumnus of the Department of Art Studies, Faculty of Education, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus in the South of Thailand. During 1996 – 2006 he worked in the art department of a hotel. After that he became the full-time artist and occasionally he provided lectures and workshops about art.
Currently, Monthian has his own art gallery and as far as I know he is the only printmaking artist in PhuketProvince. Most of his works are in black and white but he also has color printmaking. To date, he has participated in about 60 group exhibitions and has had four solo exhibitions. His latest exhibition “Magic Field” was held in 2018.
In his latest exhibition, Somsak Chaothadapong, the national artist, was the guest of honor for the opening ceremony. He commented that Monthian’s works uses an original woodcut method that requires skills, workmanship and the planning of carving wood for woodcut printmaking as well as a manual print method by hand, to show content, shape and blank space using using darkest black to the lightest white. That means the white areas were carved out in the procedure of making woodcut.
Here is the interview
JY: Could you tell me about your childhood?
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MY: My father is a skillful craftsman and local wiseman. He is also proficient in banana stalk pith carving, coffin carving, masonry, carpentry and poem writing. He usually participated in the local religious ceremonies and making some essentials tools. When I was very young, I was his helper on some occasions. That was probably the starting point for my art career. My family never forbade me to learn some art. Back then I used cardboard paper to make shadow puppets. I also made fish traps and bird cages. I was delighted to make and use these tools in daily living without understanding anything about art. Then I went to school. Using pencils and pens, I tried to draw cartoon and real-life human characters from my favorite comic books and popular magazines at that time. Art was the subject I was particularly interested in. To earn some money during secondary and high school
levels, I designed the type on report covers for my friends. After graduation, I enrolled and was determined to get a degree, a Certificate of Technical Vocation in Applied Arts at College ofArts and Handicrafts in NakornSiThammaratProvince. My decision to be an artist was a bit late for a person like me who had no degree in Vocational Certificate in art as a prerequisite. Fortunately, the course was neither too specialized nor too difficult. There I learned painting, sculpting and printmaking. During my study, my art knowledge was broadening and I wished to immediately work as a full-time artist but I still realized that my capabilities were rather limited and I needed more training.
JY: What about your art career after graduation?
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MY: After receiving a degree in Applied Arts, I had one free year to practice painting umbrellas and fans at BosangVillage in Sankamphaeng District, ChiangMaiProvince. It was a new experience for me. In 1991, I applied for a Bachelor’s degree at the Department of Art Studies, Faculty of Education, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus. Although this course is for art teachers, my dream to become a freelance artist never disappeared. Truthfully, my parents wanted me to become a teacher in a government school instead of an artist. In 1996 I worked in the art department of a hotel in PattaniProvince and earned some money to support myself and make my family proud. In the first year I was just the salaryman of the art department in a hotel. In the second year, during the day I still worked for the hotel but at night and on weekends I allocated my time for my art. Initially, most of
my works were oil color paintings about my surrounding and memories but then I realized that my works were unintentionally too similar to the oil paintings of a senior oil color artist. I tried to withdraw myself from the painting arts by selecting woodcut printmaking instead. It was something I did pretty well during my studies. Planning and steps of printmaking were also compatible with my usual job.
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Over the course of 10 years, I did many black and white prints and color prints for my collection. This led to my first solo exhibition in 2006 in PhuketProvince and I have lived as a full-time artist since. I had more time to create, analyze, experiment and research new ways of making art using the discipline I had when I worked in that hotel. Now I work every day without a single holiday. Then I found a better woodcut technique that gave me a new sensation and I could develop a new method for making woodcuts. Flesh and blood lines are used for portrait printmaking as well as wind and water lines for nature printmaking. In some sets I even made the prints on other things rather than paper to further find a new dimension of woodcut printmaking .
JY: What else did you discover?
MY: In my view, unceasing creative thinking is always fun and makes me happy. In 2017, I bought a rubber squeezing machine to apply woodcut printmaking on paper. The result was quite satisfactory and useful.
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I understand very well that the Thai society is still falling behind in term of printmaking works. As I am also an art teacher, my wish is to share my knowledge with everyone by teaching directly face to face or on the mainstream social media. As of now, I am still the only woodcut printmaking artist in Phuket. I also have a half studio half art gallery in the old city of Phuket. I would like this place to be a welcoming location and meeting stage for people who are fascinated by woodcut art. My other wish is to help Thai artists to be on par with other international artists. I believe we Thai artists are capable of competing with artists from around the world if we try hard enough. The fact that many of my works were bought by international collectors is one of the reflecting points that Thai artists’ works are still acceptable. In my life I did not submit my work for art competition. I can see that having an
award helps every artist to be famous easier but I chose to fight and struggle alone for the immunity of learning without any prize or reward. Although the path is arduous, I already step over the obstacles and reach to the stable point for myself and family at the present.
JY: What is your prospect in the future?
MY: Apart from my dedication to woodcut printmaking, one thing that I cannot leave behind is banana stalk pith carving. It is the heritage from my ancestors. I also have done this for almost 10 years. I really hope that one day I can go back to my hometown and use my lifetime art knowledge to restore the nearly lost local wisdom with my artwork.
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