CUSCUS THE CUCKOOS

Adventure in the Fantasy Art World of CUSCUS THE CUCKOOS

In general, artists often draw much of their inspiration or their own life experiences to convey a story in about 1- 3 work pieces, but very few are able to tell their whole world in one picture. One of those who can do it is CUSCUS THE CUCKOOS. Anyone who has had experience being immersed in her fantasy world will have so much fun that she or he will almost never want to leave it.

Khun Cuckoo – Chanida Worapitak, also known as CUSCUS THE CUCKOOS, tells an interesting life experience, and all of them have been shaped from her inspiration to create unique works of art. During childhood, she was raised by her mother who was a wedding dress tailor. Khun Cook was, therefore, absorbed in the elaborate, meticulous workflow that would unknowingly become her passion for fashion and design later. Her father also sparked her love of art. He was the first teacher to teach her how to paint. Her father had a talent for art, but he did not have the opportunity to study what he loved. As a result, he turned to another career path in which he was interested; that is to say, being a forestry officer who protected forests and wildlife in Chanthaburi Province. The artist often spent each semester break there with her father, which allowed her to learn from her father how to preserve nature and wildlife and also enjoy reading beautiful fairy tales in the community library. She also liked to watch movies and read all of his father’s sci-fi novels until the very end, some of which also included reading Japanese anime manga. Growing up as a teenager, she began collecting storybooks and beautiful picture books from her childhood impressions, many of which could often be bought at old bookstores at Chatuchak Weekend Market. Surprisingly, these books enabled her to learn about the shapes of things, beautiful colors, illustrations, compositions and various designs. In addition to collecting story books, she also liked to collect beautiful design books and vintage dolls that she always bought because she thought they were pitiful. She believed they had been abandoned by their owners, so she decided to take good care of them instead. She also collected toys and spent her free time watching movies.

Even though the artist has been fascinated with drawing since childhood, she did not have the ambition to be an artist or a painter in the first place. She did not just draw in a sketchbook but also liked to draw imaginary pictures on anything or just about any material without setting any limits. Upon graduating from high school, she chose to study in the Faculty of Communication Arts, Bangkok University. The program clearly met her preferences and what she was. It dawned on her that ideas for designs did not have to be delivered only on paper, but she could do it through a variety of media, such as video, canvas, etc. After graduating, she worked intermittently in her field of study, such as by being a graphic designer and an art director before starting to have a studio for designing and drawing of her own to create artwork that she genuinely loved.

Upon seeing her artwork for the first time, many people might think that she simply wants to tell stories about wildlife and nature in a cheerful mood since this is something to which she has been attached since childhood. But it is only part of the truth. Because the animal shapes are drawn from the vintage toys and dolls she has been collecting, she wants people to see the value and the beauty of those items that were once discarded. Moreover, her way of telling stories is different from that of other artists. Because she likes to watch movies very much, she picks up a movie-style storytelling called “Dimensional Cutter” or a knife that cuts through dimensions by merging everything, every experience and every moment together as one. The whole experience is akin to blinking once and then opening your eyes to see all the images in one scene. This concept has been interestingly applied to her work of art.