Episode 280

Profile image by Guillaume Bouzige

Ep.280 Jiab Prachakul (b. 1979) is a figurative painter who lives and works in Vannes, Brittany, France. Known for her luminous autobiographical paintings, Prachakul portrays her community and surroundings in quiet scenes shaped by close observation and restraint. Prachakul was born and raised in Nakhon Phanom, a small town in northeast Thailand. She studied film and journalism at Thammasat University in Bangkok and worked as a casting coordinator for Big Blue Production, where she spent her time observing people and discovering talent. In 2007, she moved to London and taught herself to paint after seeing an exhibition of David Hockney’s work at the National Portrait Gallery. She subsequently lived in Berlin, where she met many of the figures who populate her paintings. There, she turned her focus to representing the Asian diaspora, seeking to amend a lack in the Western canon. In 2020, Prachakul won the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, London. She has had solo exhibitions at The Contemporary Austin (2025), Timothy Taylor, New York (2023), and Friends Indeed Gallery, San Francisco (2023, 2021); and her work belongs in the collections of the Roberts Institute of Art, London; the Aïshti Foundation, Beirut; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Artist https://www.jiabprachakul.com/

Timothy Taylor https://www.timothytaylor.com/artists/jiab-prachakul/

New Exhibitions https://www.newexhibitions.com/e/68671

Austin Film Society https://www.austinfilm.org/series/sweet-solitude/

Glasstire https://glasstire.com/2025/04/21/jiab-prachakuls-sweet-solitude-explores-identity-culture-and-place/

Do512 https://do512.com/events/2025/2/7/jiab-prachakul-sweet-solitude-tickets

Artnet https://news.artnet.com/art-world/jiab-prachakul-up-next-2626722

Micki Meng https://mickimeng.com/artists/jiab-prachakul

Galerie Magazine https://galeriemagazine.com/jiab-prachakul-dreamy-surreal-paintings-explore-identity-representation/

Cultured Mag https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2023/09/07/jiab-prachakul-timothy-taylor-solo-show/

Gillian Jason https://www.gillianjason.com/artists/45-jiab-prachakul/

The Genius List https://www.thegeniuslist.com/interview/jiab-prachakul/

The Contemporary Austin https://thecontemporaryaustin.org/exhibitions/jiab-prachakul-sweet-solitude/

Timothy Taylor
Jiab Prachakul: Welcome Back
5 June – 11 July 2026
All images: Courtesy the artist and Timothy Taylor © Jiab Prachakul

Jiab Prachakul
Reflection, 2026
Acrylic on linen and ‘Reflection’ soundtrack by Makoto Sakamoto
28 ¾ x 39 ⅜ in. (73 x 100 cm)
Running Time : 7 minutes, 42 seconds