Meet Kitikhun Vongsayan | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kitikhun Vongsayan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kitikhun, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I see taking risks as a part of my life journey, say a new chapter of it or some sort. Coming from a foreigner who came to this country alone with little to know anything about the culture and the language, I think it’s fun and exciting to take risks in life while it’s safe enough to do so to progress. By safe, I mean somewhat knowing enough of what kind of risks you are getting yourself into. With that said, taking risks so far for me didn’t always pay off well, but it’s as good as it could. One of the major risks I took in the recent years that I could recall would be coming to the U.S., pursuing a higher education degree, and hoping to land in the industry I would like to see myself doing for a living was fun. It was hard, and I can only try my best to prepare myself up to a certain point for it. The reality still didn’t fail to surprise me, and I like to believe that I have learned so much from all of those experiences. Looking back, I would definitely do it repeatedly and continue taking chances as the opportunity provides.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I like to believe that my works can, to a certain degree, evoke feelings, but I don’t have any work that I feel proud or excited about to share. I personally get excited with my works when I’m doing some experiments on it. The joy, the unknowns, and the expectations are so fun and thrilling to explore. How I get where I am today professionally is mostly dedication and luck. It’s a little bit cliché, but it was just the fact that I’ve met the right people at the right place and the right time, even though it wasn’t the smoothest ride, but I can’t complain.
There are 2 main important factors I see as the biggest challenges for me to take on my career path. The first factor is English for language and culture. As a non-English speaker who has to use this language every day in both professional and personal life, I would say it’s one of the biggest obstacles. The second factor is my art skills. As the world moves, I can’t help but keep my work and skillsets relevant to what the industry is looking for and for personal satisfaction as well as I believe in staying hungry and seeking more knowledge for the better. With that said, I believe that these 2 challenges are some of my life-long challenges, so I will keep working on them until the end.
What I’ve learned from my experience along the way is that I have to give myself time. I learned to recognize my weakness and how to overcome it, but, at the same time, not rush it. I learned to love myself and the people around me more, appreciate things around me more, so I could be more positive, and use the positive energy to work on my endless obstacles.
What I would want the world to know about me would simply be the fact that I would like to invite all of you to explore this lifelong journey together, and watch me grow as a person and also as an artist, and I hope you could find a spark of joy here and there when along the way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I personally enjoy having meaningful conversations while enjoying the scenery, so I would say, if you like something similar, I would like to recommend any quiet parks around the city. There are plenty of good ones, for example, The Lands End, SF, but not where all people go, you can easily find the little pathway to get yourself further into the forest along the cliff, and you can simply have a little picnic there. If you are not interested in going far from the heart of the city, Lafayette Park is a very good option as well. There will be more people and dogs compared to the first option, but I’m sure you can find a decent spot there. Not to mention that you get to have an ocean view on one side of the park and the city view on the other, so pick your favorite.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think I don’t have much luck in life, but surely, I’m incredibly lucky when it comes to people I’ve met. They are important to me and helped me shape myself into who I am today, so I think I can’t thank them enough for that. I would like to start with one of the best art instructors I ever met, Chris Carman. He’s an instructor at the Academy of Art University, SF, and a true giver. He gave me tools to make a living while also showing me a tremendous amount of kindness in his teaching.
Then, I also would like to mention Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo from Tonko House. They are the best mentors I ever got. Things I learned from them still applied to my work and life every single minute of it. They gave me perspective, they showed me the career possibilities which I never understood, and I can’t thank them enough for it.
Lastly, my closest circle, friends, and family. Mom, Dad, my brother, and my sister. Words of wisdom from them made me, me today, and I can’t thank them enough for all the support they have given to me since. Also, my wife, who believes in me when nobody does, and always be supportive and shaped me into a better person. Lastly, my extended family, friends. Thanks to Pong, Ferrari, Tanta, Mana, BB, Adam, Book, Green, Lee, Cave, Carlos, Izzy, and Dora for all the support both physically and emotionally.
They made me truly believe that home is not a place, but it’s the people.

Website: http://kitikhun-pan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ba_pan/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vkitikhun/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vkitikhun

Other: https://www.behance.net/ba_pan

Image Credits
Some paintings are the fanart of “The Haunting of Bly Manor, 2020” and “Joker, 2019”