An artist’s inspirational journey from sweatshops to Saatchi

Suthamma “Ta” Byrne, born Suthamma Thimkaeo, grew up in a traditional rice farming community just outside Bangkok without access to running water and electricity and deprived of a formal secondary education. At the age of 13, she left home to earn an income for her family, working in sweatshops in Bangkok. Her only escape from the drudgery in those early years was her imagination and nascent artistic skills. At night, under dim paraffin lamps, she would sketch and draw using the few materials she could scavenge or afford on a handful of change. One day, she came across a small art studio in Bangkok. Observing a working artist in his element, she became hooked, drawn to the canvas like a moth to flame, but unlike in fairy tales, her dreams did not come true overnight. It was more than a decade later that she would meet a special person who encouraged her artistic talents, allowing Ta to finally pursue her dreams.

Ta’s story is ultimately one of fate, interlaced with important nuances of incredible individual determination and the help of having someone believe in your worth. Koktail interviews the Koh Samui-based artist, whose work has been sold through the Saatchi art platform and other internationally renowned galleries.

‘Lady in Red’ (Photo: Courtesy of Ta Byrne)

How does your life now as an artist relate to your pastlife working on a farm? Is the past a closed chapter for you or does it continue to inform your work?

I don’t think that you can or should close the door on your past and history. It makes you who you are. I look back at my early art and realise how dour and demure it was. This is undoubtedly a reflection of my previous life. I used to paint a lonely looking lady in a dark room or a shadowy setting. She was called the Lady in Green. Today, my art is bursting with confidence and colour, and I’ll never paint another lady in such an eerie setting. I look back in awe and see how my life and art has run in parallel.

Can you describe the moment you realised that art was what you wanted to do? Where were you? How old were you? How did it all happen?

I have to thank my husband, Gary, for this. He believed in me before I believed in myself. Serendipity was on my side when I met him, completely by chance. It was raining and I ducked into a coffee shop to escape the weather. He was there and we ended up drinking coffee together while waiting for the storm to pass. I created a little doodle of Gary and gave the ‘cheeky little sketch’ to him. He’s a complete romantic and a master of marketing and of fortuitous thinking. He gifted me as many tools as I could carry—paints, brushes, palette knives, sketch pads, canvases and paint thinners—and I began to paint.

Each night, surrounded by all these beautiful art materials, I would create. Not just because I wanted to, but because Gary saw something in me and pushed me. I was about 38 at the time. Gary would talk to people about my work, but I could see that they lacked his conviction, so I persevered. I tried harder and came to enjoy the creative process even more though I never saw myself as a serious artist; I always thought that you had to go to school to become a ‘real artist’.

When Gary suggested that we open a gallery on Koh Samui, I thought he was mad! We did manage to open a small gallery. People liked what I was doing and we sold quite a lot. I received a commission from a hotel owner for 15 oversized paintings on wood. She was thrilled and proceeded to order eight more pieces for her home. That was encouraging.

Then, we moved to the mainland, to live in the tiny district of Khanom, in the south of Thailand. Gary was planning to start selling my work online and I thought he was even madder! Initially, we sold my paintings for tens of dollars. People would come back for more and not long afterwards, we sold my first painting on the Saatchi Art Gallery platform.

How did you feel about that?

Utter glee! It was a giant painting of one of my ladies in a vibrant red hat and it sold for almost 30,000 baht in 2017. I was ecstatic. I know how hard people have to work for that much money. It was a turning point for me. The following year, 2018, was also incredibly successful. People started to discover my work and thousands worldwide were following my progress on a platform called ArtFinder.com. They promoted me as ‘the one to watch’ and from there, my work has been shipped to almost 60 countries. Not bad for a girl from the rice fields of Thailand!

How would you describe your art and can you tell us how you arrived at this style?

It isn’t easy for me to explain how my art comes about. I always ask Gary what he thinks and he ponders it forages. He sometimes says there is so much going on that he can’t unravel the meaning. For me though it’s quite simple. I think monkeys smoking cigars and enjoying a glass of wine like a boss or a crocodile playing the piano is entirely normal. What is there not to understand? I enjoy playing with childhood memories in my work. My egg collection is a perfect example. My mum would prepare a daily lunch box for me to take to school. When the lunch bell rang, we would all sit on the floor together and eat our food. Almost every other day mum would make fried egg on rice for me, and the other kids would tease me saying, “Ta! Fried egg again?! You’ll start to look like one soon!” These comments have stayed with me and now my egg people are all over the world. My art ebbs and flows and evolves. I’ve advanced through nudes, jazz, conspirators and even pandemic paintings and I’m not sure that I’ve settled on a particular style yet. My head is full of crazy, vibrant ideas.

Which artists do you look up to?

Easy! Picasso, Picasso and Picasso. I could look at his work forever. I love reading about him and watching clips of him working in his studios. I also love Dali for his otherworldly imagination and Van Gogh for his beautiful use of colour. These three are the giants in my world.

How has the pandemic affected you?

At the start of the pandemic we were apprehensive. We had no idea what to expect. There was industry talk that packages could be contaminated so people would stop ordering paintings. However, we have found that quite the opposite has happened. Since the world has gone into lockdown, people have spent more time in their homes and want to have statement pieces that give them happiness. 2020 was our busiest year yet and 2021 is set to be even better. We know that we are very fortunate and our hearts go out to those who have experienced loss and their world turned upside down. I’ve tried to maintain a sense of humour during the pandemic. There was a lot of panic buying at the beginning of Covid-19, so I did a painting of a single toilet roll going under the auctioneer’s hammer. It sold within a couple of hours of being published online. I’ve gone on to paint social distancing and people getting vaccinated and wearing masks. I’m thrilled to use the profits from these paintings to help people that are affected, especially here on Koh Samui.

‘Goddess dancing in the moonlight’ (Photo: Courtesy of Ta Byrne)

How do you feel about social media?

I love it. I’ve not fully exploited Instagram yet but I have someone helping me now. I think there is enormous potential for selling my art on this unexplored platform. I also love watching clips on social media. It’s amazing what you can learn!

What are your views on love?

I’m not sure that I understood love until I met Gary. He truly believes in me, encourages me every step of the way and wants me to grow and blossom. That’s unconditional love. I hope that I convey emotional connection and passion in my pieces that deal with love. I really want to capture those intimate moments thatonly lovers have.

‘Lovers’ series (Photo: Courtesy of Ta Byrne)

[This story first appeared in Koktail Magazine Issue 1.]