SF/Arts Curator Insight

Born on Thailand's Mekong River, Jiab Prachakul studied film and became a Bangkok casting director before relocating to London, where she decided to take up painting after an encounter with David Hockney's portraiture. Teaching herself the craft, the artist relocated to Germany and then to France, capturing her community of fellow travelers on canvas along the way. Micki Meng hosted Prachakul's first U.S. solo exhibition to great acclaim in 2021; the Bayview gallery presents nine new large-scale portraits, illustrating the colorful lives of international Asian diasporic artists.