Sitting on the Mountain Watching Dogs Fighting 2011

Vasan Sitthiket gives us a scene, painted with urgency. The brushstrokes are like jabs, swirling around this mountaintop tableau. I imagine Sitthiket wrestling with this canvas, layering on the blues and reds, as the narrative unfolds. He's grappling with something raw here. Is it power? Conflict? The lonely figure perched above it all seems to be in a state of existential contemplation. The artist's hand is evident everywhere. The colors are bold, and the paint application is visceral. The battling dogs feel symbolic, while the skulls at the base add a layer of gravity, don’t they? It reminds me of other artists who aren’t afraid to mix the personal with the political, like Sue Coe. I think Sitthiket uses the act of painting as a form of social commentary and personal reckoning, inviting us to question what we see. In painting, meaning is never fixed.