To look at the paintings of Vipas Tancharoen, you may think he’s an elderly artist, but really he’s just an old soul in his early 20s. He draws on centuries’ worth of traditional Thai art, blending techniques from various periods together to depict the lives of Buddha in densely detailed paintings. “I take inspiration from the lively designs of Ayutthaya manuscript cabinets,” he says. “I also love the powerful color of the Bhuddhaisawarn Chapel and the mixture of details from Chinese and Western culture in paintings from Wat Sutat. Every period has its own aesthetic used to tell the stories of their time.”

Tancharoen focuses on the stories of Buddha, from his previous incarnations to his rebirth on Earth until reaching nirvana, with a particular interest in ideas and stories that are often overlooked. He paints using natural pigments on a tamarind chalk surface, which he makes using a painstaking process: “You have to find the finest chalk, filter it, and mix it with tamarind glue water. It takes almost two and a half hours to simmer the tamarind seeds with water.” His brushes are made from natural cow and rabbit hair mixed with synthetic hairs and he uses insect wings to decorate the paintings as a final step.

Although Tancharoen’s work is tightly wound up with Buddhism, he’s quick to draw comparisons to other religions and regional styles of art, and his paintings feature characters from the country’s multitude of ethnic groups. “Although the vast majority of Thailand is Buddhist, there are many smaller religions and ethnicities that each have their own culture and it’s fantastic,” he says. “Plus, many Buddhists practice Hinduism or animism simultaneously. There are many symbols of Hinduism in Buddhist temples, such as sculptures of Vishnu on gable ornamentations.” He finds the color schemes of Tibetan, Persian, and Chinese works influential and points out how the ink wash style often used in Thai-style paintings for rivers and rock formations is derived from Chinese art. He’s deeply focused on one strain of religion but embraces the wealth of diversity that helped to create its foundations and continue to surround it.