Kamin Vata Atta Uppatan

b.1964, Thailand; based in Chiang Mai

This work by artist Kamin Lertchaiprasert was part of his solo exhibition entitled Kamin Vata Atta Uppatan. As with all of Kamin's art, this work is anchored in the artist's commitment to the core principles of Buddhism. Devoted to his beliefs, Kamin views art as a ritualistic and mediative practice allowing for better understanding of the self, nature and the world as a whole. Not only does he draw on personal history, ideas, and beliefs, but the process of making art interweaves with his philosophy and practice to a degree that the two, art and life, become inseparable. Kamin's definitive goal is to create "life-specific" rather than "site-specific" art. In his work, he explores his Dhamma roots, by redefining art in terms of words - vata (meaning "thought"), atta (meaning "self") - that are charged with religious connotations.