DHANUT TUNGSUWAN

As a digital native with a keen interest in film, Tungsuwan’s work delves into the assimilation of diverse visual elements, employing found images often sourced fromYouTube or Hollywood films that serve as catalysts for the recollection of memories.Solitude emerges as a central theme in Tungsuwan’s work, depicted not as loneliness but as a state of reflective isolation—a “good lonely”, in the artist’s own words. This solitude is closely tied to themes of growing up and coming of age, with paintings serving as a means of processing ideas and emotions. Nostalgia permeates the work, as Tungsuwan captures the essence of time and memory. In this manner, these scenes, recontextualised as a medium for the exploration of feelings and memories take on an ambiguous nature. Together with their amorphous narratives, they allow viewers to project their own interpretations and emotions onto the scenes, leading to the paintings being intimately autobiographical whilst remaining universally relatable.

The assimilation of found images into his paintings also mirrors the way digital media shapes our perception of reality. Yet, in seeking to remove the constraints of time from his work, his removal of logos and other markers of present-day reality results in the images being exonerated from their temporal contexts. This timeless quality embodies Tungsuwan’s ongoing exploration on the function and significance of painting in an age where technology has rendered image-making cold and efficient, emphasising the painted medium’s unique value proposition—capturing the essence of memory and emotion.

The painterly tools—editing, removing, enhancing— he utilises to achieve his desired effects also parallels the increasingly digitised contemporary context, employing a vocabulary commonplace in the realm of photo and film editing. By diverging from traditional Western painting competencies and its associated historical burdens, Tungsuwan’s process becomes unexpectedly subversive. While he aims for his paintings to look Southeast Asian (but not overtly so), the inescapable post-colonial undercurrents of his practice bears the mark of an artist navigating the delicate balance of cultural representation.

Tears I’ve Never Cried stands as a testament to Tungsuwan’s innovative approach to painting, blending personal memories with found images to create works that are both evocative and enigmatic. Through his exploration of solitude, nostalgia, and timelessness, his paintings reflect potential futures he did not experience, embodying a sense of yearning for unfulfilled desires. This interplay of identity and aspiration is subtly woven into the fabric of his paintings, inviting viewers to explore their own sense of self and possibility. __