Nariphon I

Title

Nariphon I

Creator

Phaptawan Suwannakudt

Year/Period

1996

Region

Thailand

Object Type

paintings (visual works)

Material

acrylic paint, gold leaf, silk (textile)

Technique

acrylic painting (technique), gilding (technique)

Dimension

Frame size: 159.7 x 77.0 x 1.5 cm,
Image size: 154.0 x 72.0 cm

Accession No.

2020-00547

Collection of

National Gallery Singapore

While working on the temple murals with the Tan Kudt Group in Phayao in 1991, Phaptawan witnessed how a noodle-seller family sold their daughter for 3,000 baht to a brothel. The Nariphon series germinated after Phaptawan took a conscious turn toward describing social issues and concerns in her artistic practice from 1995 onward. Nariphon refers to sixteen-year-old girl fruits hanging in the mythical Himaphan Forest that lures some hermits who have yet attained divinity. This motif was started by Thai artists of the Rattanakosin period and later used as a lacquer motif on the doors of places such as the National Museum and Wat Pho of Bangkok.