Rachata “Tong” Siriyakul

Artist

Industry : The Arts

Rachata graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, then furthered his artistic studies at The School of John Angel, Florence, Italy. He was fortunate enough to train under the close supervision of Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum, considered to be one of the greatest living classical figurative painters. That was the turning point in his artistic métier, when he adopted the Venetian Renaissance principle while being able to achieve true freedom in painting. One of his key techniques is grounding, using calcium as a key ingredient to provide a strong support and a solid surface, “like a wall that can be rolled up”. From there, he has the flexibility to be as free as he wishes on the canvas. He spends a lot of time on each painting to refine it, creating textures and subtle lighting. He often bases his female portraits on his own image, so they are seen as masculine and primitive. Rachata’s work was featured in the first Bangkok Art Biennale in 2018. For his solo exhibition “The Opposite Route to Celestial Light” at Number 1 Gallery in 2022, he wrote his own fairy tales–"Three Sisters" and "Black Priest"–and referenced the fiction of "Shogun" and "The Three Kingdoms"–to help create the imagery to reflect those in his imagination.