Originated in the ancient era in East Asia to create books and images, the woodcut printing is the method that creates ‘relief’ pattern. The area that is carved out appears on the finished print as ‘white’ while the original surface level appears as ‘black’. The relief process is done by hand; either with knife, chisel, or sandpaper.
Unique from his contemporaries, Praween Piangchoompu creates artwork using sandpaper to evenly and slightly remove surface of the wood. In his work, there is no stark contrast of black and white lines. Printing in subtle color, he systematically applies different tonal values and shades of the same color onto the different level of the surface to create images that bear smoothness and softness.
The serene nature of Piangchoompu artwork symbolizes a feeling of peacefulness in one’s mind. His simple composition is accentuated by the gradual shade of lights. The presence of light in his work has a reference in the purity of mind. Piangchoompu’s work process serves as a mean for him to manage the stress in daily’s life while questing for the equilibrium of the mind.
Praween’s artwork highlights the polarity between complex process and simple visual aesthetics. Achieved by painstakingly scraping, scrubbing and carving the surface of a woodblock, his artwork requires multiple printing processes to create multi shading of the same color. Precision, accuracy and patience are essential in this complicated art making process.
