8 Questions with Ruthorn Rujianurak

Ruthorn Rujianurak (b.1994) is a collage artist who works with a variety of surfaces, including cotton canvas, bristol paper, blotting paper, tissue paper, and wood panel. After living and working in New York City for two years, Ruthorn moved back to his hometown, and he is currently based in Bangkok. His works have been featured in multiple shows in several countries, such as Thailand, the USA, China, and Korea.

Ruthorn’s current work questions how people feel and react when they realize that they have lost unremarkable things. Engaging with the ideas of daily routine, full-time working, and Capitalism, Ruthorn aims to build novels and unusual perspectives of unmemorable places that you walk past every day—creating ‘ghosts’ that represent small memories left behind that place looking for you through your own past.

“I consider my work like a folded panel that was unfolded into a flat painting. When I think of my paintings this way, I get a sense of order. A side appears first in your mind, and another one comes after. This idea is very attractive to me, as the action happening in your mind did not happen in a real space. Therefore, the image in your mind seems quite different from what you really saw. It has an order in its uncovering appearance.”

@rrtwo2

Why are you an artist, and when did you first become one?

To me, being an artist is quite challenging and fascinating. Artists want to create a work that breaking social restrictions, but they also have to deal with many constraints. The way artists express their idea or emotion through their work is very interesting. I mean, each artist has their way to present this kind of feeling. This process of making art attracts me to become one.

When I was early 20, my first intention was to be a conceptual artist, but I realize later that I want to do art with nothing to do with the external concept. So, I turn my eye to painting. Then I discovered that visual art still has a lot of possibilities to do in contemporary culture. It is very funny that an artist who first inspires me to do art is Marcel Duchamp, who said art should serve the mind, not an eye.

By the way, I began to paint and then became a painter.

What kind of education or training helped you develop your skillset?

As a painter, drawing and painting skills are pretty important, but it’s not like you have to master in hand skill or technique like an old master in the 16th century. I think every kind of knowledge can be used in art these days. I have been learning basic painting since I was a kid. However, I decide to enter an economics faculty at university. And I think the knowledge I got from economics study is very useful in my life. It helps me easily understand the art market and, surprisingly, pop art.

What themes do you pursue? What inspires you to work?

Well, I like the idea that painting can complete in itself. I don’t think painting should have a super content hiding behind it. So, I consider painting as paint on the surface. My current goal is how to make -a paint-on surface thing- look interesting in 2020.

What is your creative process like?

I am not sure how to exactly answer this question. I get up in the morning, then go to my studio, working 6-7 hours per day. I think my painting process is quite systematic, and I don’t want to lose control when I paint.

It’s very hard to explain this, but I’m sure you can see my finished works process.

Which of your projects has given you the most satisfaction?

There is some painting that I use an angle grinder to scratch some paint off. Honestly, it makes me feel so good. However, I don’t think the work that makes me feel good will also make others feel the same. So, I am not commonly calculating my satisfaction as a factor in my work.

What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

I would love to observe a reaction of the viewer. I believe viewers will be easily induced to focus on their minds when they face an abstract painting at first glance. Then they will come out with a unique opinion about it related to their own experience. I think this is very interesting because I start to paint my own idea. But my idea maybe not important in the final stage. the viewer can enjoy my work with or without knowing that idea. The work of art is like both medium and message. I feel like somehow, viewers and I can share our perception through a work of art.

Please, share something you would like the world to know about you? 

All I can share is my painting. My daily routine is quite monotonous.

Any shows, galleries, or publications where our readers can find your work?

I just had an online exhibition by INDEPENDENT IMAGE ARTSPACE. It is expired on 18 July, but you can still visit a virtual viewing room. Then, I’m going to join a group exhibition -FORM 2020- at CICA Museum in Seoul around November. You can also find my work on my Instagram.