ABOUT THE ARTIST

Getzo Oliver Phongraktham graduated with a bachelor of fine arts, in the faculty of painting, sculpture, and graphic arts, at Silpakorn University.

He has gained painting skills through long training from when he entered college until he graduated with a bachelor’s degree. This is one of reasons why the artist uses his painting skills to create his works with a variety of formats and without being attached to one form.

Before graduating, Getzo presented his art thesis in the form of three-dimensional media art as an installation piece. He brought painting techniques to be used in conjunction with sculpture. He combined the artwork with other media and allowing different components to work together. He wanted to communicate with the audience to feel his inner thoughts by ignoring the realism, reducing the clarity of the shape, and using various visual elements to convey meaning. Later, the artist modified the work from the one that was displayed in three dimensions and brought in a new compilation by inverting and transforming the format of the work into two-dimensional art without limitation to technical expressions and processes. It brings back what the artist said about his creations; “Working in the art should be free. Whether by technique or any material can always be used as an artistic expression.” In addition, the artist treats artistic expression like a creative experiment where the artist is learning and discovering new techniques. It is similar to taking notes but using image and color instead of using letters adjusted according to the situation and surrounding environment.

Getzo focuses on creative experiments in abstract forms, using various basic visual elements and picking up everyday items to convey into artworks. In some works, we can't guess what the image is conveying. In some cases, it doesn't even have a meaning. When in different times and different places, perspectives and experiences of things around him will change. Only he can react and express himself by using art as a tool.

Through the experiment of finding various creative styles, Getzo has applied those techniques to his art series where he intends to present the feelings reflected from the events in life. It was the time when changes affect his feelings and thoughts. He named this work "Pictures of Memories". It is something he doesn’t want to remember but is difficult to forget. 

Using various photographs taken with a camera, he retransmitted them with painting techniques. He decided this method because the conditions of space and time cannot separate the relationship from the person and the situation that arises. Those photos are clear evidence of the past that are difficult to remove from his perception. Using the photos helped him to retell or recall the memory in a way that made him experience less pain that may have detracted from the clarity of those memories. For example, the artist uses white paint, overlays, coats them in a way that seems to cover but still has some faintly visible parts. Or the decomposition of shapes into semi-abstract images. In some angles look like an impressionism painting, full of fuzzy lines. However, the work can help alleviate the inner story as art has been used to heal his mind. 

Getzo creates his artworks with a high degree of privacy. He chooses to create works that are inspired by what you see as a human being and in relation to society. The shapeless paintings were made during his depression and during a period of inner work. This artwork, to him, is like a meditation and expresses feelings in an abstract form. The free lines without clear shapes depict feelings that cannot be explained. Sometimes, humans cannot know what the cause of our suffering is. In his view, he still feels that relationships with things around him are unclear, fluid, and unstable. Something that was expressed in the art that he was trying to understand and come to term with. Some things in the art pieces are hidden or have been avoided mentioning to make them disappear from memory, it's reflecting doubts and questioning things that happened. He tries to convey both perceptual and non-perceptual view which appear to have been concealed or intentionally hidden make the truth difficult to access. 

It is an interesting twist on the idea, and it creates a variety of perspectives on the reversal, changes position, or play with the uncertainty of events. It also leaves a space for the audience to use their imaginations. It is the use of artistic qualities as a tool to stimulate interactions between the artist and the audience to create interaction with his outside world.