Curatorial Concept

Taking lessons from ancient wisdom, new-wave psychotherapy, and timeless philosophy, this exhibition is a little something to remind everyone what is important in life. It is a contemporary and borderless interpretation of the Ensō, a circle that represents mastery of the 'Self'. It is about seeing into the nature of oneself and walking away from restraints toward liberation. 

Artists + Artworks

Artworks available for sale, please inquire hotel staff or LINE: @twelveart for availability.

Alan Watts

We can easily argue that Alan Watts is the main person who popularise eastern philosophy to the Western world. Throughout his ‘Spiritual Entertainer’ career, he interprets religion and philosophy schools such as Zen, Buddhism, Taoist, Hindu for his audience in a fun, relevant, and easy to understand manner through talks, and books - including 'Psychotherapy East and West (1961)', where he argued that Buddhism could be thought of as a form of psychotherapy.

In this series, Alan talks about understanding oneself from the perspective of a universal system and raises awareness of psychological advancement.

Alongkorn Lauwatthana

In this piece, he talks about the beauty of imperfections. The image of perfection is merely an instant of illusion created by ego and marketing teams - you only see them in social media and advertisements. In reality, imperfection is normal and everyone experiences it. Even the most gifted people are not born that way. Once you understand their story, you will know that they achieve ‘what seems to be perfection’ is actually a product of constant improvement and dedication based on their imperfections, self-reflection, and self-mastery.

Whether they are relationships, careers, health or even ourselves. In these imperfections, there are lessons, happiness, and sorrow - and that is what makes us who we are. If we can embrace our imperfections, we will find that we already are in our own way… perfectly imperfect.

Even if something seems perfect, it will not last forever because everything is in a constant state of change, which we’ll explore in detail when we get to Jood Jung’s interactive artwork titled ‘Collective Cycle of Pure Impermanence’.

Charannatan Tanachoteporamat

Mindfulness is a serene and focused state of mind where we become completely present with what we are currently doing. It is the most pure state that puts the mind at rest. Practically anyone can tap into this state of mind just about anytime. We can achieve this by being open to any thoughts or emotions that emerges but don't get attached to them. Rather, we let them flow away naturally. Simply speaking, it is a meditative state that we can enter while doing just about any activities in our daily life.

Here, Char enters her mindful state to creates a piece of artwork that mesmerises her viewers completely through the use of colours, strokes, and composition. One of art’s special powers is its ability to emotionally affect the space that it sits in - Char’s art does just so very naturally, sharing the mindfulness state to her viewers.

I invite you to flow along with the emotions that these two paintings presents.

E.G.PE.

This series of work is a development from E.G.PE.’s previous series which developed an artistic counterpart upon the work of Masaru Emoto where he proposed that human consciousness could affect the molecular structure of water, thereby portraying the structure of water conceptually.

The moon’s reflection on the water is a well-known analogy in the East to remind us to reflect on our own selves. In this [ between (us) ] series, E.G.PE. applies this practice and documents his realisations through his journal that is accompanied by ten pieces of artwork.

James Norbury

James Norbury presents philosophical and compassion-based psychological ideas in a very wholesome and accessible way. Big Panda and Tiny Dragon Series are packed with wonderful lessons that are simple yet profound.

Jood Jung

This piece is an interactive art created by the audience. Embracing the spirit of the Enso, conceptual artist Jood Jung invites the audience to reflect upon their own selves and portray it on a canvas by drawing a circle that represents their own ‘self’. This piece starts from a blank canvas, which soon will be filled with thousands of stories from the audience who choose to share a little bit of their ‘self’ onto this canvas.

This interactive art piece titled ‘Collective Cycle of Pure Impermanence’ talks about one of the underlying nature of the universe that is called impermanence - that change is the only thing that will never change. Once we can embrace change, all that is left to do is to do our best and leave the rest to the ever-flowing waves that we call life. Let’s learn by understanding ourselves, reflecting upon all the lessons that life throws at us, to slowly approach our true selves.

Juli Baker and Summer

When you think of Juli Baker and Summer, you would think of bright, vivid coloured works accompanied by the artist’s big smile and larger-than-life personality, tackling social issues and fighting for righteousness. Her works here are a little different as they came completely from within.

Here Juli Baker and Summer reinterpreted the practice of Japanese calligraphy, Enso in her own way. Both of her works, ‘Yellow Enso’ and ‘Floating Heart’, are a result of the artist looking deeply and understanding her ‘Self’. In Yellow Enso, she portrays it all in one stroke of a circle, which she chooses to do so on a torn piece of paper. In Floating Heart, she does the same but in her own way -  through her art.

Palut Marod

Palut captures the moments of everyday life in paintings. Through his abstractisation process similar to the Rorschach inkblot test, he leaves the details to be interpreted by the viewers - as everyone would see his art differently. They would interpret what they sense based on their past experiences and their values in life.

Especially these two paintings that are very personal to Palut, his abstract series talks about how external influences such as happenings and interactions with others affect the self internally and psychologically.

Yada Kinbaku

The traditional art of Japanese bondage ‘Kinbaku’ naturally lends itself to the concept of how one could achieve liberation in the midst of restraints.

This is especially true for Yada who uses bondage as a way to get in-touch with herself through the interaction with her partner. She finds herself through the reflection and expressions of her partner - this is clearly written in the accompanied text that reads:

‘But who am I if no one reflects me.
How can I be Boundless if no limitations are imposed upon me?

“What is my immortality, without the path of death.
What is my eternal present, without the snare of flowing time.”

The truth is, my love is in large part my need for others.
I look for myself in their soul.
This is where I talk to myself.’

- Yada Kinbaku

Additionally, Yada choses to embrace her works with Water Spider Lillies that symbolises rebirth and final goodbye, representing the act of how she discovered herself through this traditional art form so she could throw away the old ‘self’ to start anew, fulfilled beginning.