Thai identity and its relationship to spirituality within the context of contemporary art: transformation of faith and belief to images

This practice lead doctoral research project explores my spirituality and its relationship to Thai identity, Buddhist background and conversion to Christianity through a series of paintings. The project has two aims, one, to further develop my practice and style of painting, two, to answer the proposed research question, that addresses the knowledge and symbolism of Buddhist and Christian beliefs and the subsequent use of religious imagery within contemporary art practice. Themes investigated occurred through processes of painting, a considered use of narrative, the symbolism of colour, pictorial structure and content. This project will consider the progression of my work and artistic style through four bodies of work: The series of Faith and Belief no. 1- 4 Searching for Self-awareness no. 1 Searching for self-awareness no. 2 - 3 Searching for self-awareness no. 4 - no. 6 Art works presented have contributed towards the development of the recent series Spiritual Identity which is comprised of two works: Spiritual Identity: Inner Land and Spiritual Identity: the overlay of memories 1 - 3, a series of works that are symbolic of the culmination of the exploration of my spiritual and cultural identity