Vasan Sitthiket Biography

Vasan’s blatant approach to social realism goes against the 2000 year-old don’t-rock-the-boat tradition In Thailand. “Art in a rotten world can’t be landscapes,” he retorts, deliberately overstepping the boundaries. Full of questions about the meaning of life, Vasan devours literature at the British Council and the AUA libraries. His full attendance at the activities at Goethe Institute during a seven-year period probably explains the so-called German Influences In his paintings. Unlike other Thai artists who have attained international recognition, Vasan cultivated his own cosmopolitan weltanschaung without ever leaving the country.

While Thailand rushes to assume the outwards trappings of a newly industrialized country, Vasan’s art implores consideration on the effects of rampant materialization. He sees America, Europe and Japan as “dead” countries whose populaces have made Faustian bargain, trading their souls for consumer goods. “The sickness in the world is coming here to Thailand. Money makes you give up your honesty. We’re working for what? To be happy in hell.”

No stratum of Thai society escapes Vasan’s critique. If Thais were the devout Buddhist practitioners they claim to be, he says, they would be enemies of consumerism, not its slaves. Vasan learnt his Buddhism through extensive readings in the literature. The essence of Buddhism is a search for true enlightenment, but he believes the Buddhism taught in schools subtly twists the basic tenets. For example, the concept of ubekha which means “don’t get angry” is now promulgated as don’t rebel”.

‘“My work is in Thailand’,” says Vasan. ‘I love this country. I am ready to be a martyr. Death is not the enemy of life.” He admits he wouldn’t be surprised if one day someone wielding a sharp knife emerged from a crowd. “In the end, we all die anyway. If I’m still alive, I'’ll paint. If I’'m dead, no painting.”’