Douglas Diaz

Born 1972
Hometown Brooklyn, NY
Lives and works Bangkok, Thailand

About the artist

Reminiscent of a monk’s monastic life, Douglas’ artistic practice reflects his pilgrimage to find inner peace through his distinctively elaborate abstract paintings.

His works represent a deeply intimate manifestation of his journey, as he transits between periods of conflict, departure, homeless, movement and the unknown. His pilgrimage leaves behind an incomplete version of himself in order to transform into an inclusive self that is both personal and universal, capable of developing a deep connection to everything that exist in the universe and the most intimate aspects of his being.

To him, art is a refuge of sorts. On the one hand, it serves as a place for safe explorations into questions about his humanity; a place to challenge his innermost fears and darkness that lurks in the shadows of his being. As such, he endeavours to exhaust a topic, insight or thought that appears after a short zazen. On the other hand, his refuge takes shapes after his drawings are completed, in the collective body of work that is being generated becomes a new path for living. In it, he finds new insights and habits that are played out over days only to fall back into questioning on the next session.

The visual elements of his works are deliberate attempts to simplify the means in order to produce an honest questioning. The markings evolve to become more directs, shortening the preamble to arrive at the most vulnerable insight at any given moment.

Selected Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions
2018 Love, Woof Pack, Bangkok, Thailand
2017 Reality of My Life, Art & Art Gallery, Miami, USA
Shukke, Latar Art Space, Jakarta, Indonesia
Shukke, Art1, Jakarta, Indonesia
Surrender, Art Stage, Singapore,
2016 Surrender, Serindia, Bangkok, Thailand
My Tokyo, Tokyobike, New York, USA
Everything Is As It Is, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan
2015 Everything Suffers, Rzim, Sasayama, Japan
Impermanence, Nambatei, Okayama, Japan

Group Exhibitions 
2017 Love, Art Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
Ginga, WSMA, Tenakawa, Japan
2016 Humility, WSMA, Uda, Japan
Because This Exist, That Exist, WSMA, Uda, Japan
2015 Open Studio, Miami, USA
Emptiness, WSMA, Uda, Japan
2006 New Drawings, Matter, New York, USA
2005 Love: Conversation, Matter, New York, USA