A quiet journey through colour, feeling, and shifting perception
Intro
What would the world look like if a frog, or perhaps a part of ourselves, got just a little bit drunk?
In her latest series, When the Frog is Drunk, Supmanee Chaisansuk takes us into a space that feels playful yet calm, where colours flow like thoughts and perception begins to shift. Through six abstract paintings filled with bright tones and gentle movement, we follow the imagined journey of a tiny frog as it moves through a dreamlike world. The series continues Supmanee’s interest in emotion and perception, this time with a surreal tone, where humour, lightness, and quiet feeling come together in unexpected ways.
From Stillness to Surprise
The six paintings in When the Frog is Drunk can be seen as an emotional journey. Each one shows a different stage in how the frog sees the world as its awareness changes.
The Lake in the Sky
It begins with The Lake in the Sky, a painting that feels like a long exhale. Soft greens and flowing blues create a sense of weightless calm, as if the frog has found a quiet place to drift far from reality. "The work suggests a moment of peace," notes the curator, "a gentle escape from the real world, inviting reflection and calm."
Moth
In Moth, the frog starts to move again, not with a clear goal, but with instinct. The painting is full of quiet tension, drawn by something warm and unknown. "It’s about trust, curiosity, and the silent pull of something unfamiliar," the curator says. Like a moth circling a light, the frog follows a feeling it cannot explain.
The Fountain
Then comes The Fountain, a moment of release. Red and pink rise like emotion spilling over. Here, the frog is no longer drifting or following. It is feeling, completely. What is inside can no longer be held back.
From calm to curiosity to surrender, these three works do not show movement through space, but through sensation. They lead us from still observation to inner expression.
Painting with Emotion, Not Logic
Supmanee begins each piece without a fixed plan. She doesn’t rely on brushes but prefers to pour paint directly onto the canvas, letting it move freely based on feeling rather than reason.
"I let the colours move across the canvas on their own, guided by feeling, not logic. That’s how the shapes come out naturally. I didn’t overthink it. I just followed the colour and let the forms emerge on their own," she says.
For this series, she chose bold, vivid colours, like light scattering in all directions. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple appear across the works, each one slightly blurred, as if seen through unfocused eyes.
A Frog, But Not Really
This is not truly a story about frogs. The frog is a symbol, soft and surreal. It represents the part of us that lets go, loses focus, and starts to see things differently.
Supmanee does not paint the frog itself. Instead, she paints how the world might look through its eyes. Eyes that are dazed, curious, and slightly off-balance. The paintings are not really about frogs at all, but about how we sense and feel when we stop trying to understand everything.
The frog is simply a guide. What it sees may be close to what we feel, when we stop thinking and start noticing.
Closing Reflection
At The Charoen AArt, we believe that art does not need to shout to be heard. Supmanee’s series invites us into a quieter space, where feeling comes first, logic softens, and colour becomes its own kind of voice. When the Frog is Drunk reminds us that even the smallest shift in how we look can open up a new way of seeing.
Follow us on Artsy to explore more works from Supmanee and other featured artists.
