**East Bay Express
Published: July 22, 2009
By DeWitt Chang
Biospheres
Ten artists consider Artificial Nature.



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Bangkok Post
Published: July 29, 2010
by Andrew J. West

Siam Dreaming
Two US guest lecturers paint their Thai dreams

There are as many ways to study the ageless book of nature as there are artists, but few can divine the truths buried within the soil of their own soul by gazing outward. Two American artists with such a visual power have traveled this difficult journey of discovery by delving into their dreams of nature in Thailand.

Rene Smith and David Burke, who have both acted as visiting lecturers at Chiang Mai University's (CMU) painting department, have each uncovered a different concealed aspect of not only Thailand but the world and in doing so have also revealed a distinct facet of themselves. Now on show at Koi Art Gallery, "Dreaming My Dreams With You" presents the work of the pair produced while occupying the visiting lecturer position which was first held by Smith from September 2008 to 2009 and is now held by Burke until this September.

Burke 's paintings, constructed from thick pours of resin, gel and acrylic, are multilayered and multifaceted. The 3D terrains of Thailand's tropical North are intimate and reflective, with levels digging deep into the underworld beneath nature, drips and dribbles that run into puddles and pools of paint, each stratum both simultaneously covering and uncovering meaning.

While Burke revels in semi-abstraction, Smith savours a more realistic approach with a twist. Smith's offering mixes more subtle elements of dream into her otherwise realist depictions. Most striking among the group of eight oil on canvases is the series of three pieces set in bungalows rented at Doi Khun Tan National Park in Lamphun, which she calls small landscape paintings. These immediately give the viewer a strange sense of disorientation despite their basically realistic rendition. They manipulate the viewer's perception of perspective by proffering not one but multiple points of convergence, throwing the equilibrium of the viewer into disarray by presenting more than a single place to rest the eye. In a way she creates paintings within paintings, an uncanny ability that demonstrates her understanding of line and skill at manipulating perspective. The other quality that must be mentioned is her use of light, not only her contrasts between light and dark, but how the light falls on the floor. These shimmering oases of promise are like illusionary pools of water imagined by a thirsty French
Legionnaire lost in the Sahara Desert.

Burke's work is full of honesty, a quality which nurtures his empathy and hence his understanding of others. Ultimately, through Thailand's nature he is exploring his own inner-nature, his own capacity to love and share this life with others. Smith's work is suggestive of her loneliness not only because of her distance from home but for more existential and complex reasons. She paints almost academically, but at the same time rejects objectivity and embraces instead the significance and value of her own subjective experience which is imbued with individual questions regarding the meaning of life's purpose and value.

For the last seven years Burke has been head of the art department at a Catholic high school in Oakland, California, as well as teaching an art course at Patten University for the last two years. Smith is currently an adjunct lecturer at Saint Thomas Aquinas in New York and she exhibits widely both in the United States and abroad.

"David and I both feel very fortunate to have had this experience where we are really connecting with Thai people in a meaningful way over a long period of time," said Smith. The visiting lecturer programme at CMU's painting department has been in existence for around 20 years, providing expert international tutelage to the students of Thailand's northernmost university. An associate professor in the painting department, Kade Javanalikikorn said, "The new visiting lecturer brings in fresh ideas and knowledge every year. It benefits both students and teachers to interact with people from different backgrounds. We look for people who produce artwork as well as teach, and who will participate in the artists' community in Chiang Mai through exhibiting their work and exchanging
ideas."

After closing at Koi, Burke will exhibit at CMU Art Centre from September 3 to 15, a show that will include some of the paintings exhibited at Koi as well as several new works (opening on September 3 at 6pm). Smith's work was exhibited at CMU in September last year at the end of her term. This is the third exhibition to be held at Koi Art Gallery, which only opened its doors in May. The space, a converted shop house, has large white walls and extensive windows that allow natural light to flood in and thus is an ideal space for showcasing art. The founder, Busakorn Wanna-Oun, said she opened the gallery because she loves art; and her love is bright indeed.

'Dreaming My Dreams With You' is on view until August 16 at Koi Art Gallery, 43/12 Sukhumvit Soi 31. Call 02-662-3218 or visit http://www.koiartgallerybangkok.com.

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