Nicha Rattanabut started oil painting in 2017. Since then, she spent four years studying art practice at Stanford under mentors Enrique Chagoya and Lauren Toomer. Rattanabut’s work is characterized by a dreamlike yet raw quality, exemplified in her juxtaposition of bold colors with loose strokes. Rattanabut captures the elusive nature of memory, embracing in her work the distortions inherent to our recollections of the past. Rattanabut’s work finds meaning in the human form’s subtlety and the face’s universal emotive quality. She explores the skin as both a loaded site of meaning and a conduit for intimate connection.
Threadwork
10" × 8"
Oil on canvas
This portrait explores the quiet tension of introspection. The red thread serves as a visual metaphor for the looping nature of thought.
Current
40" × 33"
Oil on canvas
This painting reflects the fragile coexistence of peace and turmoil that defines relational ambiguity. The figures drift in muted currents that fold into one another in frozen collision.
Exposure
24" × 20"
Oil on canvas
Through diffused light and gestural abstraction, the work reflects on the paradox of openness. In revealing ourselves, we risk being truly seen.
Gayatridevi
33" × 40"
Oil on canvas
This portrait of a friend celebrates her strength and grace expressed over years of closeness.
My Grandma and the King
48" × 36"
Oil on canvas
This painting depicts the proudest moment of Mali’s life. She received recognition for her charity work by the King of Thailand, who opened opportunities for immigrants like her to make a new life on Thai soil.
Family Portrait
30" × 30"
Acrylic on panel
Family Portrait explores the contradictions within familial intimacy. Though the figures’ gestures suggest care and connection, their obscured faces destabilize this sense of certainty.
Hana
8" × 10"
Oil on canvas
Untitled
20" × 24"
Oil on canvas
Hand
20" × 24"
Oil on canvas
Pacific Coast
16" × 12"
Acrylic on canvas
Lockdown
20" × 24"
Oil on canvas
