Usually I’m somewhere else
I realized why winter seems to be going on forever this year for me Covid 19 notwithstanding. I’ve been going to Thailand in Jan or Feb for the past 20 years ever since my son moved there. This year no one is going anywhere. Then Facebook keeps reminding me of my trips, fun to remember but I’m even missing that 27-hour plane flight that gets me started adapting to culture shock and the twelve-hour time change.
I do a workshop and gallery show for the fashion design department second year students at Rangsit University every year while I’m there. It’s been a real learning curve, how to pack for a month-long visit that includes workshop supplies, a gallery show, and enough clothes for starters. Fortunately Thai winters are hot so I leave my bulky winter coat behind. I’ve been stuck without it in Knoxville a couple of times but that’s another story. These days, I am taking half of what I “needed” in the beginning. (I love the part in the movie Up in the Air where the George Clooney character makes Anna Kendrick throw out her pillow.)
For the first several years, I just took what I’d made during the year for the gallery show in conjunction with the workshop. One year, I thought my pieces would fill the gallery, but they were overwhelmed by the huge space. Then, slowly I connected the dots realizing what a unique experience I was gifted. I started to think in terms of instillations. Now my shows require participation by the students who otherwise circle the gallery in thirty seconds, migrate to the student section and disappear. I know their teachers require them to come but still……
So for old times’ sake and to make me feel warmer, here are a few random photos of Thailand travels and shows I’ve done. Cheers and be warm.
Pictures are from shows at Rangsit University in Bangkok and around Thailand: KoYo cotton weaving village, Chinese New Year in Nakhon Sawan, Puppet Show in Bangkok, High School parade in eastern Thailand, Duck street food in Chinatown in Bangkok, mat nee silk weaving in Chonnabot
You can check out some films on Thailand here:
http://samforkner.org/linecolor.html
http://samforkner.org/nakhonsawan.html
Weaving School 
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