Close Window

Repousse panel, 'Traditional Thai village, the Well'

Thiva Boonnak pays homage to traditional Thai customs, eternal gestures as well as a communal and simple life close to the soil and nature. Boonnak engraves with delicacy every minuscule detail - depicting villagers busy with daily tasks by their wooden houses on piles. A young man ploughs his rice field in the background and another gets water from the well. Boonak frames this vivid scene with an exotic rain tree frame and may be displayed on a wall from small ring at the back or atop a shelf from its pivotal stand.

Thiva Boonnak describes the traditional and demanding process she follows for this remarkable home adornment: "for this panel, my suppliers provide me with 100% aluminum sheets. Once I got these sheets I heat up a mixture of oil and pitch, and I apply a coat of this mixture on a wooden surface. I apply another coat of that mixture to one face of the sheet. I fix the sheet to the wooden surface and I start to engrave it with a wide variety of chisels. Once engraved, I lightly reheat the piece to remove the pitch and I place the piece into a boiling acid bath to rinse out the impurities. I wash the piece into a solution of washing powder and tamarind. Then I wash with water and let it dry in the sun. I finally file it with a brass brush and polish it to a beautiful high sheen."