Personification of Nature : Creation and Meaning of Visual Art from People’s Abstraction Mindset of Southern Thailand Visual Art

Abstract

There were mutual traditional beliefs of the people in Southern Thailand that there were the existence of gods and sacred items in the nature. These beliefs were reflected in art works in terms of personification of nature. This research aimed to study the backgrounds, significances, and values of these beliefs to analyze, synthesis, and create art works.                                                                                                                                                                                                                The analysis of personification of nature reveled that there were relationships among nature, human beings, societies, and cultures which were in cycles and in the forms of unity, duality, and pluralism. The creation of art forms were closely related to people’s perceptions, and their meanings were conveyed in both realistic and idealistic forms. Aesthetics was employed as beauty derived from unity, harmony, and the goals were for goodness. The theory of form creation was also employed, and with the relation to Gestalt Theory to create sense perception and sense conception. This created the uniqueness which derived from the integration of various Southern artistic characteristics.                                                                                                                                                                                      The ultimate goal of the creative art works was not only for aesthetics but also reflecting the contextual meanings of personification of nature which conveyed abstract ideas and practices to create unity, harmony and perfection of the natural cycle as well as living harmoniously in the Southern multicultural society.