Born in Lamphun in 1934, Wongsam has long been a foundational figure in Thailand’s artistic landscape. In the early 1960s, he undertook a formative journey from Bangkok to Florence on a Lambretta scooter, an odyssey that traversed spiritual, cultural, and artistic terrains. With scenes ranging from the devotional architecture of India to the cosmopolitan residue of postwar Europe, this passage became a durational methodology: a form of embodied research through which authorship, identity, and perception were continuously reframed.
Wongsam’s practice retains the imprint of this storied expedition. His woodblock prints, abstract paintings, and wood sculptures reflect an ongoing recalibration of material, space, and time. Over a career spanning nearly seven decades, he has developed a visual language that resists codification, eschewing direct symbolism or narrative. His works operate as open systems: nonverbal yet affectively charged, inviting multiple modes of perception.