POETIC RELEASE

Young artist Happyduis explores life experiences in an unconventional location

- STORY: SUWITCHA CHAIYONG

Nineteen-year-old artist Papontan Uyyanonvara, aka Happyduis, created his debut solo exhibition “Wander Wall” in an unusual location — the toilet.

Located on the second floor of Art4C Art Centre, “Wander Wall” showcases a set of 108 ceramic tiles in a toilet. Each tile is filled with the ideas, dreams and journeys of Papontan, who prefers to be called by his nickname Duis.

“I believe that defecating is similar to releasing my imagination into a sketchbook. The difference is I can keep the drawings and review what I drew in the past. The exhibition is a metaphor where I compare the toilet to a large sketchbook and each tile is a page,” explained Papontan.

Papontan started to collect drawings for the exhibition back in 2024. He experimented by putting his works in the toilet of his apartment before he finally decided to hold the exhibition at Art4C Art Centre.

At the art gallery, visitors will see a video which explains where the inspiration for the exhibition came, his objectives and his creative process. Next to the video is a collection of sketches which he created spontaneously. For example, one piece depicts his interest in playing the guitar, another is about the traditional northern drum klong sabad chai, while another sketch illustrates one of his favourite artists - French printmaker and painter Odilon Redon.

"I don’t have complicated ideas. The exhibition is like a diary of what happens or how I feel each day,” he explained.

Papontan also compared his painting process to cooking.

“When visitors walk into a museum or an art gallery, they expect to see masterpieces. However, most visitors do not see how the masterpieces were created. Most artwork begins from sketches or spontaneous ideas that come to the artist's mind. It is like making fried chicken where a cook has to find the right recipe to make it tasty.”