“Sanguine Sea” is a frieze of the natural world crafted through a contemporary artistic lens, by accomplished Thai textile artist Ploenchan Vinyaratn. It draws inspiration from the captivating crimson-hued waves encountered in the enchanting seascapes of the Maldives.

The meticulous creative process involves a mindful selection of materials, incorporating reclaimed fibre elements salvaged from the marine environment, as well as repurposed leftover yarns gathered from previous commercial projects (some going back a decade or more). Sustainability and mindful craftsmanship are intertwined into a harmonious whole.

The name of the artwork includes a play on words from both Thai and English, the two languages the artist uses daily; Sanguine can be transposed into Thai as “saeng wine” (แสงไวน์) which can mean “red wine reflected light”. Fortuitously in English, sanguine is both a word describing “a blood-red colour” as well as meaning “optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or diffcult situation.”

The viewer, standing in virtually the same position the artist would as she contemplated its painstaking creation in situ over the course of seven months, immerses in the vivacity of the dominant red hues, tapping into a wellspring of inner strength and courage to overcome doubts, fears and negativity.