Exhibition poster image courtesy of VS Gallery; installation photos by Vinai Dithajohn

Beyond Loss (2026)

When Pichai heard that 48 commercial fishing boats in Pattani province had been destroyed to comply with the Government's policy of decommissioning unlicensed fishing boats, he decided to investigate. He discovered that fishermen, left with only the lumber of their boats, were forced to buy back the fragments to use as firewood to boil anchovies in the process of making budu fish sauce, a traditional local food product of Southern Thailand. When he went to interview the fishermen and visited where the boats were being dismantled, he was deeply moved by the piles of broken wood. He left with many questions about the fairness of what had taken place.

In this exhibition, Pichai translated the memories of that day by painting the scenes of destruction he had seen on the walls of the gallery space. In front of the paintings, he hung trawl nets, cut into thin strips and coated with ash produced from the burning of the dismantled fishing boat lumber. The use of such nets involves dragging them across the seabed, and while this can result in large catches of fish, such nets are now legally banned, as they sweep up everything in their path, causing the indiscriminate destruction of coral reefs, and endanger sea turtles and marine ecosystems. Bottom trawling also contributes to carbon dioxide emissions, as ocean sediments are among the world’s largest carbon sinks, and disturbing the seabed releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere.

This series of paintings and installation piece explore a dialogue between destruction and preservation: the dismantling of fishing boats built from Ta-Khian trees, where the construction of a single boat requires between 20 to 30 trees, and the protection of marine resources through the prohibition of bottom trawling.

Finally, the installation piece composed from fragments of destroyed fishing boats, topped by a recreation of a Ta-Khian tree emerging from the ruins, symbolizes the hope of life struggling to survive amid destruction, much like those fishermen, who have not given up hope to be able to continue their way of life.

Organized and hosted in a virtual environment by the SikoraArts Gallery and Kuntz Matrix, the Inaugural Exhibition for Abstract and Minimalism 2026 (January 1-February 21, 2026), and Exhibition for Abstract and Minimal Art III 2026 (May 1-June 23, 2026), are celebrations of creative clarity, bold experimentation, and the global language of reduction and form, that combined brought together more than 200 works by over 100 artists from across the world, each contributing a distinct voice to the evolving conversation around abstraction and minimalism. Pichai contributed one work to each exhibition, including A Disproportionate Burden #13 (2020) (above top right), and Why Did You Go Away Diptych? (2021) (above bottom right).

Net Loss (2024)

In his exhibition, Net Loss, Pichai addresses issues of personal loss, economic loss, and the loss of the environment through the eyes, words, and experiences of local fishing communities i Pattani province in the south of Thailand.  Believing that only those who share a common bond can feel free to express their feelings of loss, regret, guilt, and despair with each other, something increasingly lost in a society of social media strangers at a distance, the works visualize the many personal tragedies that ensued when the Thai Government destroyed unlicensed fishing vessels to comply with international demands.

The works include Pichai paying respect to the tree spirit, Nang Ta-khian; replicas of two of the destroyed vessels made of their melted down nail shavings; 48 bottles of budu sauce representing the destroyed fishing vessels, the lumber of which was often used as firewood to boil the anchovies that make the sauce; two hyper-realistic paintings of bottles of budu sauce, and a rhinestone-encrusted traditional toy spinning top (luk khang), evoking the constant state of policy changes by the government.

A Disproportionate Burden (2021)

Poster photo and exhibition photos by Preecha Pattara

RAMPANT (2020)

An incessant boxing ring bell commences a boxing match. It is the fight for their lives, their dignity, and their peace. They fight each other without bounds. The cheering crowd drowns out the discreet opening of a Pandora’s box. Fatal and colorless haze was rampant in the crowd, without regard to class, occupation, gender, or religion. It is a disaster for all people in the country; a real fight for survival. Everyone’s way of life is affected, waking in the morning paranoid. Life and death seem to be closer in every breath. When and how will this disaster end? 

RAMPANT was a dual exhibition by contemporary and abstract artists, Pichai Pongsasaovapark and Sudaporn Teja, depicting their struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, with both confronting life and death, overcoming fear, time constraints, the disruption of what was normal, and the altering of one perspective on life and death.

Pichai's work explored a near-death experience, sickness from colon disease, and survival during the state of emergency, all of which led him to question his past actions, time lost, and the value of his remaining time on Earth. Influenced by the interrelation between the pandemic situation, rules, and time, he created mixed-media abstract art and installation art, challenging viewers to experience, interpret, and reappraise the past.

The Abstract Eye (2019)

Some people see the world as it appears – whole, complete, and unified.  Others see the abstract qualities of the things around them -- the lines, the angles, the shades and shapes. Abstract artists see the ingredients, components, the subtle aspects and nuances of a thing, focusing on, and looking for, the intriguing regions and dimensions of our surroundings. They see things differently and with an eye for the abstract.

In this exhibition, The Abstract Eye, Pichai captures the angles and shadows, colors, hues, and textures that he saw in things, that others may not recognize or appreciate. Using photography as a tool, he has gone on an expedition, searching for things that are hidden in plain sight, revealing features of our environment and an entire world waiting to be seen by an astute observer. Like an explorer discovering new facets to a previously unknown landscape, the artist has revealed what he really sees, recognizing that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

The Mess We Make (2019)

Pichai created this series, The Mess We Make, to refer to the utter lawlessness, mismanagement, and disinformation around the issue of air pollution. The works were inspired from the toxic smog that periodically blankets Thailand with the air-borne particulate PM2.5. Because of a lack of systematic and urgent air pollution management, the problem has risen steadily, leading to a serious health risk and danger to the public. 

Pichai felt that it was the responsibility of artists to do something to make people notice this issue and how dangerous it is, since some people have no idea as to even when and why they should wear protective face masks, or even what types of masks they should use to prevent harm to their lungs from breathing such air pollution. In his view, while artists cannot solve the problems society faces in grappling with air pollution, it is important to always try to bring greater attention to these issues and the possible ways to deal with them.

Looking and Seeing (2017)

The Looking and Seeing exhibition, consisting of three separate series of works, visualizes the impact on human beings from global climate change, and addressing issues such as flooding, drought, and air pollution, through photography and the processes of simulating urban flooding and capturing exhaust emissions from motorized vehicles.

In the Deluge series, Pichai simulated the impact of extensive flooding, as a result of  rising sea levels, on urban environments by soaking canvasses in tanks of water, mixed with pollutants, such as motor oil, clay, sludge, foodstuffs and beverages, household detergents, chemical products, plastics, and biological contaminants. The canvasses were then dried, painted, and placed in vats filled with water and clay, glue, synthetic plastic wrappings, botanicals, and acrylic paints to approximate conditions when urban areas are inundated. Finally removing, drying, and repainting with motor oil, the results are tapestry-like works reflecting the unsettling beauty from the flotsam and jetsam of urban floods.

In the Drought series, he overlaid photographs of drought-stricken rice farms and arid landscapes taken in northeast Thailand with portraits of the farmers most directly impacted by the unforgiving weather, capturing both their resignation and the heartbreaking sadness of their fading away with their arid land, their faces expressing a stoic acceptance of the harsh reality befallen them.

In The Air We Breathe series, he created stunningly beautiful images, seeming at first look as fields of flowers, by capturing exhaust emissions from such motorized vehicles as motorcycles, automobiles, vans, trucks, tillers, and rice combines. However, when one realizes that what is on the canvas is actually the physical manifestation of something dangerous to our health and a contributor to global climate change, the impact is immediate in creating awareness of the threat caused by air pollution.

Remains to be See (2014)

Art is what remains when everything else is removed, what the eye refuses to look past, to ignore, to ameliorate. In the residue of life, of labor, in the fading penumbras of receding dreams, it hovers, hiding in plain view, waiting for us to see it for what it is, to decode, to understand. It is the shards of disaster, interpreted and translated by the lucky and unlucky alike, but never able to be understood or fully restored. It is the residue of urban floods, the ashes of burnt offerings, the smoky wisps and dying embers that beckon us, whimpering in pain and humiliation, with desperation and resignation. It is the siren call of flotsam and jetsam, forcing us against the railings, challenging our forgetting, preventing our moving on, compelling and pleading to not turn away, to drift off, to reorder our world.

It is the remains of a life, when one looks closely. The outline of what was, stubbornly refusing to depart, to disappear, to fade from view. It is a blade of grass, a dried leaf, a broken twig, invoking our memories of a forest. It is what remains when you close your eyes tightly, afraid to be excited, afraid to be reminded that you had forgotten something unforgettable, indescribable, indelible.

It tugs at our unconscious, slipping in through the cracks, haunting us, enticing us, playing with us, pricking us to see what we may not wish to see. It imagines what was, what could have been, and what will never be again. Like archeologists of the soul, turning rocks, sifting bones, seeing what is still with us, still a part of us, and though buried, that which still remains when we thought it could never be seen again.

When all is gone, but not gone, it is art that remains to be seen.

Lines (2014)

Fast Start, Slow Burn (2013)

Altered Terrains (2013)

Night Beckons (2012)

Art in Nature in Art (2012)

Exhibition poster photo and exhibition photos by Preecha Pattara