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Somsuan Wunna

"My name is Somsuan Wunna. I was born September 22, 1972. I am an only child, but my father married twice. He got married with my mother after his first wife had passed away and… it is strange but I have always felt awkward with this story. The truth is that my father pretended to be single so he could marry my mother! I do not know how he maneuvered living with both women at the same time, but he told my mother the truth only once she got pregnant. She was awfully upset but it was common at the time to have a major and a minor wife and everything eventually quieted down. But I digress. So I actually have five stepbrothers and sisters and I am the youngest. We have strong family feelings and I am happy to have such a warm family. My brothers, who live in the neighborhood, always call in to share dinner. I mean all of them, even the brothers that are not my brothers. We talk about everything, have fun, and enjoy ourselves.

"We are a very poor farmer family. There was no money available for anyone to study thoroughly, so I just graduated from a little school primary school located near my village. But, although I am not educated, I am self-taught. People even say that I am an intellectual. I devour books and I have a real interest in writers; I pride myself in knowing all prizes ever awarded to Southeast Asian writers. When everybody went to work in the fields, I stayed home, assigned with housekeeping chores. I was very young, you know. I took care of everything in the house myself. After primary school, I looked for a job and was employed by a little workshop making dolls. I was to stuff the dolls with cotton and to sew their dresses. But when the workshop went bankrupt one year later, a neighbor invited me to work with him in a wooden furniture workshop. He taught me for approximately one month how to carve and I became the floral patterns carver. The owners just wanted me to carve these patterns that, once completed, would be with other artisans' work, fixed to armchairs or huge desks - these plain pieces of furniture becoming beautiful pieces of work. I was working like a machine there and I took it for my mother's sake. For my father had passed away and my mother just stayed at home, too old to work in the fields any longer.

"I decided to leave two years later, but not out of boredom. It was rather on account of the owners, who were always scheming to receive illegal teak from Burma. They preferred to give large amounts of money to the police rather than the Department of Forestry. Consequently, the latter often came in to examine the premises and we, the workers, had to run away to not be arrested. So, not only had I to regularly flee with the others for just working, not scheming, but I also thought about the wood and did not want to support in any way those illegally depleting forests. You know, the trees were very old, their trunks so big … at least one meter in diameter. Fortunately, one of my friends told me that someone was looking for fan painters. No experience was required, training was provided, and the job would be given once the apprentices would be skilled enough. So I immediately quit the furniture shop and started a new career. The master painter taught me to sketch and draw only one time and said that I would have to practice what he showed me by myself. I said nothing but I would discreetly observe him painting, and then would imitate his techniques. At first the master drew on the fans and I applied the colors afterwards. But a few months later, I started creating new patterns with my own ideas.

"That was ten years ago and I now design every scene myself, drawing inspiration from the natural environment surrounding my house. I sometimes drop everything and go to the fields, the forest, a waterfall, or any natural place and comeback with a fresh and more focused mind. By the way, classical music, which I love very much, also clears my head and helps me focus. Today I start my daily routine by doing housework and at nine o'clock go downstairs and start drawing and painting. I can finish two pieces per day, which also depends on my mood and how I feel. You see, if I am stressed, I just cannot paint anything. My friends tried to persuade me to paint in a large shop, but I refused because I do not want to work in such busy places anymore. There I would not be able to concentrate, I would be stressed and would probably get headaches. Well, in fact the most important reason is that I love my mother very much. I want to stay near her and look after her at all time.

"I love working but do not like being ordered around. Therefore this independent activity makes me feel free and great. It also makes me respectful - toward myself. My work is artistic and people will thus evaluate it differently. I once showed eight fans to my cousin and asked him to pick is favorite. He chose the one I thought was the ugliest and my favorite was the one he disliked the most. That is why I want to tell everyone that they have to choose what they really love. I want to tell that if you love something, then it is certainly the most beautiful thing in the world, because it comes from you, and because nobody will see things like you do. I love my present life, my present job and hope that everyone will love the resulting fans too."

To craft her fan, Wunna prepares thin bamboo strips and dries them in the sun, after which she fumigates them. Once the fan is assembled, she covers it with cotton fabric and paints the scenes with oils. Finally, Somsuan applies a coat of lacquer to the first strip.