The young contemporary Thai artist Kittisak Thapkoa (b. 1989), with his visually arresting chimerical imagery that blends human, animal, and godly forms, is steadily making a name for himself in his home country and abroad. Following numerous domestic accolades from the United Overseas Bank (2013), the Amata Art Award (2013), and the Young Thai Artists Award (2012, 2014), Kittisak mounted a successful debut solo exhibit “Truth” in 2015 with Number1 Gallery; after which he tackled the international stage with solo exhibitions in Art Stage Singapore 2016 and Art Stage Jakarta 2017.

A native of Nakon Ratchasima, Kittisak graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Silpakorn University, Thailand’s leading arts institution. He uses his refined skill in illustration and draftsmanship to depict Buddhist morality in the face of contemporary materialistic society. He artfully combines human limbs, bestial claws and horns, wings and serpentine heads, in scenes that take inspiration from native temples as well as Christian iconography. The woeful images speak of the artist’s hope that portraying an existence of endless suffering will help break humanity’s self-destructive cycle.