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Wattanawan Kan-Asa

"My name is Wattanawan Kan-Asa, but you can call me by my nickname, 'Pu.' I was born on January 22, 1965 in the province of Lampang, the gateway of northern Thailand, and grew up in a loving family. I am the youngest child and my parents always took care of me. When I was little I loved drawing cartoon-style pictures and giving them to my friends. They always praised me and said that the drawings were good. I also loved singing. When I was around 12 or 13 years old I felt the need to choose my life's path. In Thailand, children usually obey their teachers and continue on to college after high school. But that wasn't for me. I decided to leave town and learn what I wanted: art. I studied at the art college for about two years before entering the most famous school for art in Thailand. Life at the university was beautiful, and I was also a singer in the faculty as well. After graduating in 1986 I continued singing at many clubs, working during the day for a decoration company.

"Later I worked in Bangkok. I got married in 1994 but didn't have any children yet. We decided to move to the country after losing my job in the economic crisis of Thailand in 1997. My husband and I tried to get jobs there, but found nothing. We had no employment and no friends, and were searching hopefully for the next oasis. I had to try to work with anything and turned to the thing I most preferred - the art of painting on cloth, which we call batik. But I didn't have the tools to make it. I wanted to buy some from Bali. I went to Jakarta and bought batik with almost all of the money saved over ten years. When I returned I had to read many books that taught about this technique. At this time I also sang in many restaurants to make money. Our life as a couple was hard, but happy nonetheless.

"Then the opportunity arose. The Northern Factory Support Organization offered a program for the unemployed who wanted to work, and taught the art of batik on cloth. I was very pleased; the time was right for my dreams to come true. I learned first the basics then continued on to the advanced class. I employed my own ideas and used the creative concepts I had learned in the university. My work turned out well and everyone was surprised. The teacher suggested that I could open up my own shop, and that's what I did after the class ended. I now have four people helping me. I love this way of life and don't plan to expand my business so that it gets bigger. It's a risk and I don't want to have more work. I do this work because of the happiness it brings me. Now I am very happy and I always try to create new patterns. I love it and hope that other people will love it as well."

Khanasa works on 100% cotton using traditional batik techniques. First she stretches the cloth on a wooden frame in order to sketch out the design in pencil. A protective mixture of melted wax and resin is then applied to portions of the surface before the cloth is crumpled and dipped in the dye solution, as the areas that remain exposed absorb the color. During this process the wax cracks, creating an attractive and subtle network of fine lines. Finally the wax is removed and these steps are repeated for each successive color.