SHOWCASE

/ ARTIST / 2026

ARTIST: SUNSABEA
COUNTRY: Thailand
CONTACT: https://www.instagram.com/sunsabea/
Hi, I’m Sunsabea. I tell stories through Sakeena, a character who helps me express my emotions, beliefs, and dreams in ways words often cannot.

My inspiration comes from mythology, folklore, personal beliefs, and imagined worlds. I am drawn to both beauty and darkness because they make me curious about the things we cannot always explain. Through Sakeena, I continue exploring those ideas while discovering more about myself.

Art is the most honest way I know to express who I am. Through my work, I hope others feel something real and maybe find a piece of their own story too.

The Selkie’s Lullaby

Ancient coastal folklore tells of Selkies, sea spirits who wear the skins of seals.
On certain moonlit nights, they leave the ocean behind and walk upon the land in human form. Fishermen were warned never to follow a song carried across the waves, for it was said that the sea remembers every soul it has ever touched.

In this painting, a young Selkie stands beneath her seal skin, holding a shell that still carries the voice of the tide.

There is no storm. No farewell. Only the endless ocean, singing the same ancient song.

The Blooming's Memory for Bangkok Active Festival

Digital Painting for Bangkok Active Festival was organized by Thai PBS, The Active, the National Health Commission Office (NHCO), the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), and numerous partner organizations.

The festival provided a platform for Bangkok residents to share their perspectives and co create public policy proposals ahead of the election.

This artwork was featured as a representation of a vision of Bangkok in bloom.

Once Upon Saen Saeb for Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

Mural Painting
Size: 4.20 m × 6.70 m

This mural was created for the BKK Art Open Space project, which transforms public spaces across Bangkok through community art.

For this project, Sakeena became a representation of the Saen Saep Canal in its earlier days. The mural was painted directly on the floodgate, the pumping station along Saen Saep Canal in Huai Khwang District, Bangkok.

Juniper’s Bone Lullaby

Inspired by The Juniper Tree by the Brothers Grimm, this painting explores the coexistence of innocence and horror within traditional fairy tales. A child plays a flute carved from bone, transforming grief into a haunting melody that speaks of memory, loss, and rebirth. Through soft, dreamlike imagery, the work reimagines a dark folktale as a quiet reflection on resilience and remembrance.

Rabbit on the Moon

Inspired by the East Asian folktale of the Moon Rabbit, this painting reimagines the celestial guardian as a quiet figure suspended between innocence and sacrifice. Seated before a glowing moon served like a meal, the child invites viewers to question whether the moon is an offering, a memory, or an unattainable desire.

Blending playful imagery with subtle unease, the work reflects how folklore transforms ordinary symbols into timeless stories of devotion, longing, and imagination.

Rarely Harmless Goods

Every curiosity has a keeper, and every keeper hides a secret.

Inspired by Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities and the historical Wunderkammer, this painting reimagines the cabinet as a living creature. Rather than consuming its treasures, it protects them, preserving fragments of forgotten folklore, childhood fears, mythical beings, and quiet wonders. It reflects how curiosity transforms ordinary objects into stories waiting to be discovered.

Eat the Horse, Become Rich

Inspired by the Year of the Horse, this painting playfully reimagines a folk belief that fortune can be gained by "consuming" the essence of a symbolic animal. Here, eating exists only as a metaphor for embracing the horse's virtues of prosperity and perseverance. Instead of catching fish, the child patiently fishes for a golden horse, turning the fishing line into a quiet pursuit of fortune itself. Through surreal imagery and folklore, the work reflects our timeless desire to seek abundance through stories, symbols, and belief.

Cry Me A River

Inspired by the idiom "cry me a river," this painting transforms tears into an endless body of water, where emotions become a landscape of their own. The child rests within the rising tide, while birds drift across the sky as silent witnesses to grief, resilience, and the gentle passage of time.

Electric Heart

Inspired by the idea that emotions carry their own energy, this painting envisions the heart as a luminous source of life and connection. The glowing figure radiates warmth from within, suggesting that love, hope, and kindness possess the power to illuminate even the darkest moments.

Hail Hecate: Mother of Three Realms

Inspired by Greek mythology, this painting depicts Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, the night, the moon, and the crossroads. Portrayed in her triple form, she embodies the cycles of the Triple Moon and the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld. The third eye symbolizes divine insight, while the torch represents her role as a guide, illuminating unseen paths through darkness, transformation, and the unknown.