Tara Mitchell meets a young artist painting for his mother’s freedom

Sittichai Pugdeepet, otherwise known as Tor, is busy painting images of Buddha to rescue his mother from a jail sentence. A close friend of the Dalai Lama and Tik Shiro, a Thai pop star are supporting his cause, but Tor believes his paintings have the greatest power to transform. Just 16, he says he has been painting all his life.

He calls the canvas his “world”, adding: “In the real world, I cannot control anything.  But I can control the world in my picture.  I can make a fsh with a foot who goes shopping.”

He laughs at the image, his eyes sparkling with mischief.  He laughs a lot, despite the fact that his life has so far held little in the way of comic relief.   He grew up in a troubled household in Khon Kaen, with an abusive father and a shell-shocked mother.  In painting, he found an escape.  As he puts it, “I could make a happy home, even though I didn’t have a happy home.”

He began by painting monsters and scenes that featured his mother as a heroine, conquering forces of evil. He practiced whenever possible, some­times drawing twenty pictures in one day. He hid his artwork in textbooks at school and drew caricatures of teachers when he should have been doing math. A perfectionist, he once devoted two years to just getting his drawings of the human hand right.

When Tor was twelve, he gave up Godzilla for the Bodhi tree. He met an eccentric older boy at school who introduced him to Buddhist philosophy. Once a month they went to the art gallery at the University of Khon Kaen to look at Buddhist art. Tor was captivated by the Buddha’s teachings, which he speaks of passionately, and by the art it inspired.

“I looked at the pictures,” he says, “and I thought I want to paint Buddha. I want to paint from the heart, not only for fun.”

Fun has been fleeting in Tor’s life, but there was an interlude of happiness in his early teens.  After his father passed away from alcohol abuse, his mother fell in love with a retired Englishman. Tor’s life changed. He lived in a bigger house, went to a better school, painted the Buddha. His mother travelled the region with her new husband and opened a restaurant in Hua Hin.

“I looked at the pictures,” he says, “and I thought I want to paint Buddha. I want to paint from the heart, not only for fun.”

“I never saw my mother happy,’ he explains, remembering this period with a wistful look in his eyes. “But now she laughed; she smiled. She had a happy life.”

It didn’t last. When his mother’s new love turned sour, her life spiraled out of control. She started gambling, accruing massive debt. She lost her house, her restaurant and was taken to court. Destitute, she now faces a jail sen­tence.
“Yes, she did wrong,” Tor readily admits. “My mother needs to change, but in the world.  Not in prison.  I cannot help, but I have to try.”

The opportunity to help came in the form of a Swiss property developer in Khon Kaen. Andre Fuchs saw Tor’s paintings displayed outside a mar­ket and immediately recognized their potential. Having worked for nine years as a public relations representative of the Dalai Lama, coordinating star-studded media events with Hollywood figures supportive of the Tibetan cause, Fuchs is familiar with Buddhist art.

“I know Buddhist paintings from Tibet,” says Fuchs, “and this young man has a talent I’ve never seen.”

Fuchs took Tor under his wing, hiring him to make paintings for his compa­ny’s website. In a pleasing twist of fate, Tor now uses his childhood survival skills for professional purposes; he listens to clients describe their dream properties and makes a painting, which Fuchs then passes along to archi­tects. It was Fuchs who suggested Tor raise money for his mother by selling his Buddhist art. He brought Tor to Bangkok, and arranged for his work to be showcased at Mu Mu art-house and café until the end of December.

Tik Shiro arrives at Mu Mu’s and he and Tor pose for photographs. Tor is obviously excited by the commotion, but there is also anxiety etched on his young face – tomorrow he must return to Khon Kaen for his mother’s sentencing in court.

“If I believe in my paintings, I believe they can help me,” he says. “Not just with money, but also with luck.”

To see more of Tor’s artwork contact the Mu Mu Art House at: 106/1 Soi Srimbumpen Yan Akard Road 1 Tel: 081 286 96761