Busui Ajaw (b. 1986, Mae Suai, Thailand) is a self-taught painter who creates works that draw from her everyday experiences as a woman in the contemporary world as well as her roots as an Akha ethnic minority. Since she began drawing at age 15, she has developed an expressive painterly language to communicate both the seen and unseen as well as the material and the psychological.

Born in a remote mountainous region of Myanmar, the artist was forced to flee as a young child with her family after a military invasion of their land. Her practice relates to her unique upbringing. The artist is an Akha, a nomadic ethnic group from the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia, and is from a family of artisans. Coming from an oral culture, the practice of image-making was initially foreign to her. She recently began to incorporate wooden sculpture into her visual language as well as working with installations. Busui exhibits widely in Chiang Rai and Bangkok. She lives and works in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Born 1986 in Thailand.
Lives and works in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Solo Exhibitions

2023
Mother: Amamata, nca | nichido contemporary art、Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibitions

2023
Thailand Biennale Chiang Rai 2023, Chiang Rai, Thailand

2021
small, nca | nichido contemporary art、Tokyo, Japan

2020
Hysteria, Toot Yung Art Center, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Once upon a future, nca | nichido contemporary art, Tokyo, Japan
Once upon a future, nca | galerie nichido Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
Every step in the right direction, Singapore Biennale, Singapore
Elevations Laos, Laos