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Nid Jainewkham

"My name is Nid Jainewkham and I was born in quiet Northern Thailand, on January 23, 1967. I had few opportunities growing up as a child. Our family was very poor. They could not afford to educate me in the normal way – that is they couldn't send me to high school – so instead they sent me to the temple when I finished primary school. I was about 12 or 13 years old and used that time in the temple to become ordained as a novice. Life in the shelter of Buddha is very calm. I learned the Buddhist doctrine in the same way I had learned in school, and meditated during the nights. Three years later I moved on from the novice status and went on to study mechanics. When I finished I got a job in the same field, but after a while I started to think about what I most wanted to do.

"I discovered my love for the arts about ten years later. I decided to study art and set up an artistic group with my friends. We always gathered together our paintings and set up exhibitions. My inspiration comes from mural paintings. In Northern Thailand, we see paintings on the walls that develop into the masterpieces of many temples. I used the techniques of master painters to adapt the scenes with my own work. When I am painting, it is as if I am relaxing. I do it slowly and let out my own style. And if you have your own ways, people will admire your painting.

"My works are inspired by times past, when I was young and lived in the rural area. I have involved the fields, the animals, natural things; all these serve as my never-ending resource. I love to present the characters through my own style. Everything I see and remember is present in the brush strokes and colors.

" My series of nude works is adapted from the mural paintings as well. You might be surprised to know that the walls of Buddhist churches most often have nude pictures hiding in one of the corners. Northern Thai people always are in a humorous mood, so they add the pictures they want to the corners: if you are not intended to find it, you will never see it. I have taken these human activities to be a part of my works. The result is my favorite kind of art. They are pictures that intentionally mix funny and romantic moods. People always comment about them at my exhibitions.

"In the future I will continue to do what pleases me. Currently my wife and I have no children. If I no longer want to paint or I am just thinking about my other paintings, I will stop and do other things that I want. That's why my paintings have so many forms, of nature, of people, of ceremonies, etc."

Nid Jainewkham has participated in numerous exhibitions in Thailand, winning several prestigious awards.