Thailand born (1959) Australia based (1996-)

Edge of Elsewhere Campbelltown Arts Centre

Phaptawan trained as a mural painter with her father, and led a team of mural painters that worked extensively in Buddhist temples throughout Thailand. She was also involved in the women artists group Womanifesto.  Phaptawan relocated to Australia in 1996 and continues to create  contemporary art works which have been shown in Thailand, Australia, and internationally.

Selected International group exhibition:-

• 2017 Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• 2012 All our relations 18^th Biennale of Sydney (artistic directors: Catherine de Zegher and Gerald McMaster)
• 2005-2006 Open Letter touring exhibition, April -Gallery 4A, Sydney, August -National Gallery of Thailand, October -The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, February 2006 -The National Gallery of Malaysia
• 2000  July-September, El Poder de Narrar [The Power of Narration, with nine artists from eight countries, catalogue texts by Kevin Power, Patrick Flores and Trinh Minh Ha], Espai d’art Contemporani de Castelló, Valenciana, Spain.

Works in public collections includes Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Bank Sydney, National Gallery of Thailand, Thai Embassy Paris and private collection in New York, Australia, Europe, Hong Kong and Thailand. Work Three World 1 was presented by Prime Minister of Australia to Prime Minister of Thailand at The Parliament House, Canberra to commemorate 60th Anniversary Australia-Thailand diplomacy relation in 2012 Residencies: Asialink Arts Residency Program, Chiang Mai 2014, Bundanon Residency 2003 , Gunnery Studio, Artspace Sydney 2005 , Womanifesto International residency program 2008, Artspace studios, Sydney 2011 Grants and awards include: Australia Council for the Arts, Asialink Arts Residency Program, Arts NSW and National Association for the Visual Arts Australia Recent publication includes Suwannakudt, Phaptawan ‘Catching the moment, one step at a time in  Fuyubi Nakamura, Morgan Perkins,Olivier Krischer eds, Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders, Bloomsbury London, 2013  

Awards

2014 Asialink Arts Residency Program a three month residency funded by Arts New South Waltes to research and make new work ‘Retold-Untold Stories’ at Ne’-Na Contemporary Art Space, Chiangmai

2012   NAVA Janet Holmes a Court Artists’ Grant

2012 Australia Council for the Arts new work by established artist

2010   NAVA Janet Holmes a Court Artists’ Grant

2001 Australia Council for the Arts new work by an established artist

Artist in Residence

2011 Art Space Studio residency, Woolloomooloo, NSW

2008 The Womanifesto international collaborative Program at Rai Boonbandarn, North East Thailand.

Working Experience:

1984-1996 Freelance artist in traditional style and mural painting, organized and led the Tan Kudt Group of painters for temple and hotel murals

1981 E.S.L. teacher for Indo-Chinese refugees, Pragmatics Company Ltd., a UNHCR Project

1970-1981 Twelve years’painting apprenticeship to my father, the late artist in Thai style, Paiboon Suwannakudt, or Tan Kudt; Teaching Experience: 12 years as Special Instructor, Thai mural painting unit, Painting Section, SUPPORT Foundation. [The Foundation for Supplementary Occupations and Techniques], Office of Her Majesty’s Private Secretary, Chitralada Palace, Bangkok, April 1984 – February 1996]

– 2013   Suwannakudt, Phaptawan „Catching the moment, one step at a time‟  Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders, Bloomsbury, Fuyubi Nakamura (Author, Editor), Morgan Perkins (Editor),Olivier Krischer (Editor),

2012- Gezcy, Adam, Party Time – 18th Biennale of Sydney, Art Monthly Australia vol.252 August, P5-9,

2012 ; – Greening Phaptawan Suwannakudt  Email from Moira Roth to Phaptawan Suwannakudt, http://moirarothsgleanings.tumbler.com/post/gleanings-22-phaptawan-suwnanakudt#;

-2012, Datuin, Flautdette May, Uncommon Sense: “Empty the Visual from Eyes of Flesh” Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art, an anthology, edited by Nora A.Tay and Boreth Ly, Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications, Cornell University,

2012         Clark, John, Asian Modernities:Chinese and Thai art compared, 1980 to 1999, Power Publication,

2010 -Young Zerunge, John, Phaptawan Suwannakudt – Wakeful Moment, Last Words/edited by Summer Hipworth and Aaron Seeto, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

2010 – Fairley, Gina, Exhibition review:Phaptawan Suwannakudt at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Asian Arts News, September/October

2010 – Clark, Christine, Exhibition: Catching the Moment each step is the past, Phaptawan Suwannakudt at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, C Arts Magazine, August/September

2010 – Sambrani, Chaitanya, Phaptawan Suwannakudt, Ephemeral but Eternal Words: Trace of Asia, Fuyubi Nakamura, ed, Research School of Humanities and the Arts and ANU School of Art Gallery, The Australian National University,

2010 – Sambrani, Chaitanya, Phaptawan Suwannakudt: Three Worlds and Some More

2009 – Seeto, Aaron, News from Island, Asia Art archive Newsletter, July

2009 – Oates, Tony, ‘Smile of the Buddha: contemporary Vision, Phaptawan Suwannakudt’, Smile of the Buddha: Image of Enlightenment, The Australian National University

2007 – Gill, Simryn, The Stray Elephant and other stories, text for exhibition Phaptawan Suwannakuct the Journey of an Elephant: the ongoing mural, Arc One Gallery Melbourne

2006 – Carter, Michael & Gezcy, Framing Art, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press

2005 – Lenzi, Iola, ‘No Hard Lines gender politics in contemporary Southeast Asian visual art: does woman’s vernacular exist’, Gaweewong, Gridthiya, ed, Temporary Insanity, The James H.W. Thompson Foundation, Bangkok

2004 – Pettifor, Steven, ‘Between Tradition and Modernity: Phaptawan Suwannakudt’, Asian Art News, September/October

2004 – Sheriff, Mary, ‘How Images Got Their Gender: Masculinity and Femininity in the Visual Arts’, Moode, Teresa; E Weisner, Mary, ed, A Comparison to Gender History, Blackwell

2004 – Suthee Khunavichaiyanont, Caak Sayaam kaw suu Thay may: waa duay khwaam phalikphan khong sinlapa caak praphenii suu samay may, [2nd ed] Khrungtheep, Baan hua leem, 2547

2004 – Ewington, Julie, ‘Thai Vision, Australian Painter, in Recent Painting, Numthong Gallery, Bangkok

2004 – Power, Kevin; Flores, Patrick, in El Poder de Narrar / The Power of Narration, Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castello, Valenciana, Spain

2000 – Datuin, Flaudette May, Women Imaging Women: Feminine Spaces, Dissident Voices (Categories for a Feminist Intervention in the Art Histories of Southeast Asia), Text & Subtext, Earl Lu Gallery, LASALLE-SIA, College of the Arts, Singapore

2000 – Jain, Kajri ‘Nariphon: How to eat a bowl of noodles’, Artlink, vol.19, no 4

1999. – Carruthers, Ashley, ‘Review’ Eyeline, no. 41, Summer

1999/2000. – Datuin, Flaudette May, ‘The Queen, the Goddess, and the mural painter’, Art Asiapacific, no.14, April

1997. – Suwannakudt, Phaptawan ‘Identities’, TAASA Review, vol.5, no.1, September

1996. – Gampell, Jennifer, ‘Profile’, Far Eastern Economic Review, December 21

One Person Exhibitions

2016 Reincarnation of the Butterflies, Air Space Project, Sydney

2016 Retold-Untold Stories, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney

2014 Retold-Untold Stories, Chiangmai University Arts Centre, Chiang Mai

2014 Days of (endless) Meaninglessness, 100 Tonson Gallery, Bangkok

2013 April, Bhava: state of being, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne

2011 May-July, Locution-(re)-location, 100 Tonson Gallery, Bangkok

2010 May-July, Catching the Moment: Each Step is the Past, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney

2009 August, Three Worlds, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne

2007 February, The Journey of an Elephant: The Ongoing Journey, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne

2004 March, The Elephant and the Bush, Arc one Gallery, Melbourne

2004 January, Recent Works Numthong Gallery, Bangkok

2002 July, Turtles, a Fish, and Ghosts…, Gallery 4A, Sydney [

2002 June, Karma Women Buddha, Span Gallery, Melbourne]

2000 November, Buddhist Lives Tadu Gallery, Bangkok

1999 July/August, New Works, Sherman Galleries, Hargrave Street, Sydney

Group Exhibitions

2017 March, Beauty and Myth of Southeast Asia, Thienny Lee gallery

2016 February, In the Still of an Ordinary Day, Jane Clayton Gallery, Sydney

2016 February Twenty-Twenty, Chippendale Street Precinct, Sydney

2015 December, Feral, Articulate Project Space, Sydney

2014-2015  February-October, Conversation, Art Gallery of New South Wales

2013 September, Albany Art Prize, Albany Town Hall, Western Australia

2013 July-August, ORIENTing: With or Without You, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, UWA Western Australia

2013 March Hua-kati, Australian Thai Artist Interchange, Melbourne

2013 February-March Thresholds: Contemporary Thai Art, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

2012 June-September, All our relations, 18^th Biennale of Sydney

2012 January-April, Edge of Elsewhere 2012, a three year ongoing project by international artists participated as part of Sydney Festival 2012, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW

2011 March, Women Artists Exhibition 100^th year of International Women’s Day, The National Gallery of Thailand, Bangkok

2011 January-April, Edge of Elsewhere 2011, a three year ongoing project by international artists participated as part of Sydney Festival, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW

2010 November-December, Redlands Westpac Art Prize, Mosman Gallery, Sydney

2010 September-October, Blacktown City Art Exhibition 2010, Blacktown Art Centre, NSW

2010 September-October, Text as Spiritual Imagery, McGlade Gallery, Australian Catholic University, Sydney

2010 April-May, Ephemeral but Eternal Words: Trace of Asia, The Research School of Humanities and the Arts and ANU School of Art Gallery, ANU Canberra

2010 March-May, Second Language, 24HR ART Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin

2009 October-November, Broadsheet Notations: Epilogue, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok

2007 December, Smile of the Buddha: Image of Enlightenment, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra

2007 March-April, Heading North, Maroondah Gallery, Melbourne, curate by Damian Smith

2006 October-November, Fletcher Jones Art Prize Exhibition, Geelong Gallery, Victoria

2006 June-July, Utopia Limited: Inhabiting Sydney, curate by Jo Holder, The Cross Art Projects, Sydney

2005-2006 Open Letter touring exhibition, April -Gallery 4A, Sydney, August -National Gallery of Thailand, October -The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, February 2006 -The National Gallery of Malaysia

2003 October-November, Abstractions, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra

2000  July-September, El Poder de Narrar [The Power of Narration, with nine artists from eight countries, catalogue texts by Kevin Power, Patrick Flores and Trinh Minh Ha], Espai d’art Cntemporani de Castelló, Valenciana, Spain.

2000 February, Gang of Four, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne

1999 November, Gang of Four [with Simryn Gill, Lindy Lee, Savandhary Vongphutorn] Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Sydney

1998   March, Women imaging women: home, body, memory, [Artists from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam], Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila

1997 March, co-organizer and exhibitor at Womanifesto Exhibition of work by Thai and Overseas Women artists at Concrete House, Nonthaburi and at Baan Chaopraya, Bangkok

1995 March, Tan Kudt Group at Place of Art, Bangkok

1995 March, Tradissexion: Five Thai Women Artists at Concrete House, Nonthaburi

1994 October, Invited Artists Exhibition of Tadsawat group, Place of Art, Bangkok

1993 December, Thai Art Exhibition by Art Instructors of the SUPPORT Foundation,The Montien Hotel, Bangkok

1992 November, Art Exhibition by Eighty Artists, The Montien Hotel, Bangkok

1992 October, Art Exhibition by Thai Women Artists, Siam City Hotel, Bangkok

1992 March, Art Exhibition by Thai Women Artists, Contempus Gallery, Queen Sirikit Convention Center, Bangkok.

1991 November, Thai Contemporary Art Exhibition, Artists to Heart for Emergency Home, The Hilton Hotel, Bangkok

1990 April, Thai Contemporary Art Exhibition, Thai Commercial Bank, Bangkok

1989 March, organized the Thai Contemporary Artists Exhibition with Tan Kudt Group and invited artists in Paris

1988 August, Fourth Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group at the Thai Cultural Fair, Keio, Co. Ltd., Tokyo

1988 July, Co-operating Advisor for Student Exhibition from painting section, SUPPORT Foundation, The Dusit Thani Hotel, Bangkok

1987   December, Third Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group at Tsa-ho Gallerie Internationale, St.Pierre,   Île de La Réunion.

1986 October, Second Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group in co-operation with student work from SUPPORT Foundation graciously presided over by H.R.H. Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn at The Regent of Bangkok Hotel.

1984 March, First Exhibition of Tan Kudt Group, graciously presided over by H.R.H. Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn and H.R.H. Princess Chulabhorn at The Montien Hotel, Bangkok.