Ways of Solitude: Exhibition by Phukin and Pharin Viranuvat

Projectionist ASIA
6 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

“One day, our children will grow up and eventually embark on lives of their own.”

This is the phrase Patavee Viranuvat uses to expand on the meaning behind “Ways of Solitude,” a title first given to a photographic series portraying family life and partnership. The work was previously presented in Celebrating the Moment and Unfolding the Life at the ASEAN Culture House in Busan, South Korea, in 2017 (read more about Ways of Solitude 2017 at https://www.alternativeuniverse.co/post/ways-of-solitude-exhibition-at-asean-culture-center-busan-south-korea)

Eight years later, Ways of Solitude is revisited and retold through the eyes of a six-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter. Their perspectives, shaped by their own ways of understanding the world we live in, offer a new layer of meaning to the work.

“The most precious thing in life… yet we never truly had time together.

Only today do I understand my father—your grandfather.

And I hope you’ll understand this, my child…

The world is both cruel and breathtakingly beautiful at the same time.

Because it is cruel, you must be strong and steady.

Because it is beautiful, you must never forget to marvel at it—

to learn from it, to seek its meaning,

and to free yourself from the aimless games that distract from your true purpose.

I cannot walk beside you forever.

You will need to live your own life—

stand on your own legs,

find your own path,

find the one you love,

and build a life shaped by your own beliefs.

By then, who knows how far the world and life will carry you?

Watching you grow each day is a beauty nothing can replace.

I want you to know this:

you are everything in this life I am trying to build,

and no one can ever take that away.

They say, ‘Don’t love your child too much.’

But for a father, there is no such thing as too much—

and you deserve every bit of that love.

Read as much as you possibly can.

Spend half your life learning what you do not yet know.

For you were born into not knowing—

and the more you learn, the more you’ll realize how vast that not-knowing is.

Never think you already understand,

for the world is far greater than you imagine.

And when you finish reading books,

don’t forget to read your own heart.

And as you live,

remember to look back at your life,

and try—gently—to understand it.”

“Ways of Solitude” first whispered to me when I held my son, Phukin, for the very first time. In that instant, I understood—truly understood—how brutal and unforgiving this world can be.

For a father who loves his child more fiercely than anything on earth.The thought of him wandering through that chaos alone struck me with a fear I had never known.

To be solitary in a world so vast… it is a heartbreak I could not bear for him.

Then came Pharin—my miracle. Her arrival reshaped everything I thought I knew. The moment she was placed in my arms, a warmth bloomed inside me so profound I can still feel it.

In that quiet, trembling joy, I realized something precious: my children would never face this world alone.

They would grow, side by side—holding each other through storms and sunshine, through every fall, every triumph, every unspoken moment in between. They would have each other, for as long as life allows. So, be together and take care of each other till the end of time!

“Ways of Solitude” is their first exhibition. It is not merely a collection of paintings, but a gathering of secrets within every touch of paint, truths that only the artists, Phukin and Pharin, will ever fully know. Every piece is born from their own imagination, from the quiet worlds they carry within. The exhibition stands surrounded by those who love them, and those whom they love in return—a circle of warmth holding their art, and their hearts, gently in place.

"You may walk through your own solitude, but you will never walk through life alone"

The concept of the exhibition contrasts the idea of “solitude” with the deep comfort of a sibling bond. Even though each painting is created independently—each child discovering their own inner world—the works sit side by side, echoing one another like two voices. Each piece holds personal stories, hidden emotions, and private symbols that only they know. These secrets turn the exhibition into something intimate—almost like a diary written in colours, shapes, and marks.

Visitors don’t see the literal story; they feel the emotional residue of it.

Every artwork comes directly from their imagination—inner worlds untouched by rules, expectations, or adult logic. Their pieces become small sanctuaries, places they retreat to when reality feels too large or too loud.