Now through September 30, 2017, Akaryn Hotel Group’s akyra Manor Hotel in Chiang Mai will serve as a gallery, showcasing a collection of 10 watercolor creations by local Thai artist Kritika Buabusya. The design hotel is located in a city bursting with emerging artists and is surrounded by the mountains and farmlands of Chiang Mai; it is an ideal place to showcase both Thailand’s urban, artistic scene and its rural environments.
In Buabusya’s debut collection, pastoral depictions of the Thai countryside are displayed in muted, calming watercolor hues. Each painting is meant to serve as a window into the simplicity of everyday life in the region. The works of art immerse guests in the vantage point of Buabusya, a Thai native who previously lived in New Zealand, working with textiles, fabrics, and fashion, then spent a decade teaching at a Thai university prior to this artistic endeavor. Her scholarly background contributes to the concept of the exhibit, named “Floral Choreography”. Derived from lore surrounding Arcadia in Greek mythology, Buabusya attempts to explore an ideal existence that liberates people from the confines of consumerism in a quest for holistic fulfillment.
A sort of utopian hope is reflected in paintings such as Collectivity, which depicts a community farm with neighbors hard at work. Additional paintings in the exhibit range in topic from traditional Thai childhood pleasures such as picking mangoes, to an evening beneath the mountains making merry, to a community partnering to create and provide at a wicker co-op and more.
Of the exhibit, General Manager Christoph Gestin asserts it, “offers the perfect window for visitors to Chiang Mai, a city still surrounded by the same kind of honest, natural beauty that is depicted in the artworks,” he continues, “akyra Manor Chiang Mai aims to inspire and with art in our heart we are delighted to be able to share the vision of talented Thai artists like Kritika Buabusya with visitors from around the world.” Of note, the hotel is also coordinating the sale of each piece in the collection. With portraits available for purchase, guests are given the opportunity to bring home an authentic, one-of-a-kind memento or have it shipped at an additional cost.
