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VIPASAI NIYAMABHA

SPECIAL TO THE NATION

    Vilailak Udomsrianan says her

first solo exhibition, "Tales from the

Creative World", which starts on

October 3, fulfills one of her oldest

passions.

 Vilailak studied print-making at

Silpakorn University's College of

Fine Arts (Changsilp), but the

course of her life took her away from

pure art.

 "I spent five years doing my art

degree before continuing my

graphic-design education in

New York", she says.

 Since then she has built

up her career in another challenging world -

advertising. She began at Leo Burnett

(Thailand), a top advertising agency.

From a graphic designer, she graduated

to creative group head then creative

director.

 "I am immersed in the competitive

advertising world at work, but back at home, I

always feel I'm back in the art environment",

she says.That's not surprising - her husband

Udom Udomsrianan is an avid furniture

designer and artist at Planet 2001 Company

and the Panta shop at Siam Discovery Centre,

while her daughter is currently studying art.

"My work began to slow down in 2006, and for the

first time in ages I felt that I

had free time for myself and for

my art", says Vilailak.

 The inspiration suddenly started

flowing one evening when she was at home

with the family.

 "My daughter was drawing,

preparing for her university entrance

exam, and my husband was painting.

I decided to pick up a

colour pencil and started to sketch

on paper."

 She felt a familiar pleasure come

flooding back. "It's funny to say,

but I've always wanted to return to art.

As soon as I put pencil to paper, I started getting

ideas on what to do."

 Vilailak went on working until

she felt things click. Then her husband

suggested her work was good

enough for an art exhibition of her

own. Examining her creations,

Vilailak sees that her experience and

passion have come together.

 "In advertising, we always have to

play down who we are. Brands and

clients come before our own self.

But when I'm free to do the art I

love, all I reflect on is who I am," she

says.

 The icons that she has depicted -

a Volkswagen Beetle, Coke bottle,

Hello Kitty doll, Teddy Bear and

Playboy bunny - tell us about her

advertising background. Viewers are

hit by the visual impact of these

forms and experience her personal

emotions filling them up - feelings

and dreams, different from day to

day. Inside the forms, her favourite

artist Marc Chagall's inspired tales

are represented in abstract fashion,

more dream-like than reality.

 Vilailak chose sweet yet serene

colours, reflecting scenes of happiness,

calmness and contentment  in her life.

"My love for the Apple McIntosh

logo drifted to other things I associate

with apples. I thought of 'an

apple a day keeps a doctor away',

which led on to the apple from

Adam and Eve's story. Eventually my

apple mood became vibrant with

significance and full of love. I put a

loving couple inside an apple form

and titled it 'Here comes the Sun'."

For the viewer, it seems that

every work on display has a special

story to tell even though they are the

fruit of a flow of feeling freed from

logical thought.

 "We don't have to have a solid

reason to do everything: these works

are the outcome of me drifting along

with my day-to-day emotions,

together with the passions for my

favourite forms", she says.

 While talking about one of these

forms - the Volkswagen Beetle -

Vilailak reminisces about the time at

university when she and a group of friends

drove to Ratchaburi province

for lunch, cutting an art class.

Vilailak decided to use print-

making as her medium for the exhibition's

pictures because it is a skill

she knows well. Her first show will

comprise 14 prints and five colour-

pencil drawings.

 Away from the gallery, she

recently started her own creative

agency, Sunshiner. She also helps

her husband in the marketing and

design department of Planet 2001's

home-accessories business.

 Her latest passion is Muse Shop

by 9Lives at Museum Siam. It's still

at the design phase but will be her

first museum shop when it opens.

 Check out the brand logo for the

"9lives" collection - her design.

 "I love the idea that people can

bring art into their daily life

through a museum shop. It is

great when anyone can carry a

bag with a Cezanne painting on

it, or use a Picasso placemat. These

small items make people feel at

home with the arts." It seems that all

her passions are up and running

now. She admits she already has the

idea for her second art exhibition,

and is not afraid to share it.

 "I will call it the 'Five Senses of

Happiness'."

 This is one artist whose commitment

to whatever she does runs deep and genuine -

expect that next show before long.