GET TO KNOW BYBAMBAM AND HER UNIQUE WORLD OF COLORS AND LINES THAT REFLECT THE IDENTITY AND LIFE EXPERIENCES
TEXT: SURAWIT BOONJOO
PHOTO & IMAGE COURTESY OF BYBAMBAM
(For Thai, press here)
“For me, art can perhaps be compared to the most beautiful, eloquent language—one that doesn’t demand familiarity with alphabets or grammatical rules. It communicates through the silent dialogue of imagery and hues, making me realize that I truly enjoy this and that it is indeed the right path for me.”
Large eyes, underscored by dual curved lines, a subtly flushed, slightly ruffled nose, and a short straight line for the mouth depict a thoughtful expression. Her strikingly vivid orange hair, adorned with an array of colorful hair clips, sets a bold contrast against her smooth, plump complexion enhanced by fine white shadow lines. The portrait stands against a backdrop that bursts with the raw vibrancy of contrasting earth tones, lush foliage, and an expansive sky. Named ‘self portrait,’ the work is part of the latest series of paintings by ‘bybambam’ or Suchaya Thongrom, an emerging figure in the new wave of artists whose works have graced both solo and international group exhibitions.
Though Suchaya typically channels her personal interests and lifestyle into her artistic endeavors, her character paintings offer a compelling narrative through a blend of humor and satire that echoes internet meme culture, crafting a nuanced and engaging visual dialogue. Suchaya’s characters engage viewers with a narrative style that is familiar yet refreshingly novel, simple yet subtly complex.
Suchaya Thongrom traced the playful roots of her character, bybambam, back to her days studying Visual Arts with a major in Painting at the School of Architecture, Art, and Design at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang. During a drawing class, an assignment tasked her with creating a character design. Driven by her interest in human appearances, Suchaya started by observing the distinctive personalities of her classmates as a source of inspiration. This led her to set up a mirror and gradually sketch her own face repeatedly.
This process eventually culminated in the creation of a cartoon character—a young girl always accompanied by her allergy symptoms. The character’s face is marked by distinctive lines under the eyes, suggesting perpetual dark circles, while her nose, rendered as though mid-drip, lends a touch of whimsy to her persona. Suchaya’s choice of a vibrant, distinctive color palette further animated the character’s lively essence. Initially, this creation served as a medium for Suchaya to navigate and articulate her own emotional struggles. Over time, however, the character evolved, adopting facial characteristics and aesthetic elements of other people and even objects and animals. Alongside this, she expanded her technical boundaries beyond canvas to include painting on other surfaces, creating floating sculptures, or even crafting brown teddy bears.
The young artist reaffirms her unwavering dedication to advancing the artistic quality of her work. She described her intriguing work process, starting with the conceptualization of the artwork. She then immerses herself in a reflective, introspective state, exploring ideas on platforms like Pinterest and TikTok. Following this, she selects a color palette. For solo exhibitions, she reviews the overall color scheme she intends to use, planning how the colors will be applied before creating digital sketches of the artwork using an application on her iPad.
Suchaya emphasized that her choice of color palettes must resonate with the narrative and concept she seeks to express. This involves a process of envisioning and categorizing the artwork’s color scheme, meticulously aligning shades and tones to match the intended ambiance and message. This process, which begins with visualizing the colors of the artwork along with the details of its components and structure, may be linked to her unique visual perception and dyslexia. It is also reflective of her interaction with ‘PANTONE: The 21st Century in Color,’ where she methodically separates the color palettes of sample artworks throughout the book.
a solo exhibition ‘Face of Legendary’
a solo exhibition ‘Face of Legendary’
The vivid colors in her artwork not only extend the dimensions of understanding but also provoke contemplation about another crucial aspect of fostering deeper comprehension through the narratives and images presented. This may involve an emotional engagement stimulated by a specifically curated color palette, highlighting the interplay between the artist’s identity and her pieces. It also suggests a slow, reflective tracing of thoughts, accompanied by an imaginative visual interpretation associated with selecting color palettes. The colors in her work do more than fill space—they create a uniform, smooth texture and a compressed spatial arrangement, yet they reveal the intricacies of overlapping elements, both opaque and delicate. From this perspective, the artwork is intriguing in terms of how it compresses and simultaneously expands the visual field, enhancing its allure through the potential of her painting skills.
Currently, Bybambam is in a phase of intense focus on revising, developing, and exploring new aspects of her identity after more than two years. This effort is demonstrated in her latest series for the exhibitions ‘Sassy, Sweet & Surreal,’ held from December 7, 2024, to January 5, 2025, at MMAD BOX by Palette, and ‘NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS’ from December 7, 2024, to January 26, 2025, at L.O.F Gallery on the second floor of MMAD – MunMun Art Destination. Both exhibitions are particularly significant in presenting the evolving creative direction and experimental stage of Suchaya, suggesting a new approach or a critical developmental step in her career, inviting us to keep an eye on her future work.