Painting of a Kayan giraffe woman

Large hand-painted portrait - Kayan woman with long neck

Kayan woman Painting by Frank Wagtmans
The giraffe woman Painting by Frank Wagtmans

SPECIFICATIONS

Kayan woman Painting by Frank Wagtmans
Exclusive painting of a Kayan giraffe woman completely hand painted by Frank Wagtmans.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Another immense canvas with a stunning portrait of a special inhabitant of our beautiful earth. This time it is a portrait of a Kayan woman. These women are known for wearing many copper rings around their necks. The application of these rings begins at a young age and increases as they grow older. The portrait is composed of many layers of acrylic paint with a rich array of colours boldly applied against each other. The colours yellow, red, blue, green, brown, white, orange, pink, and black appear in the portrait. The portrait also includes thicker paint and paste textures to give it more reality. This artistic painting has a size of 200 x 150 cm. The canvas is painted through on the sides, so no frame is needed. In conclusion, the painting is signed and varnished with a beautiful high gloss varnish layer.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The painting process

Kayan woman Painting process - Frank Wagtmans
Kayan woman Painting process - Frank Wagtmans
Kayan woman Painting process - Frank Wagtmans
Kayan woman Painting process - Frank Wagtmans
Kayan woman Painting process - Frank Wagtmans
Kayan woman Painting process - Frank Wagtmans

KAYAN TRIBE

Origin of the Kayan

The inhabitants of Kayan are found in Burma's largest city, Shan. They belong to the Red Karen ethnic minority group. In the late 1980s and early 1980s, they faced problems with Burma's military regime. This led to their flight to Thailand. Within the minority group there are several other groups like Kayan Lahwi, Kayan ka Khouang. Kayan Letha, etc. The best known group is Kayan Lahwi. Known for the tradition of the elongated neck and copper rings.

Mystery behind copper rings worn by the Kayan women

From the age of five, the Kayan women start wearing copper rings. The tradition is most common in Kayan Lahwi or women from Padong. With advancing age, the number of rings increases. Over time, the rings become an integral part of the body and women hardly remove them. They believe that it would be wrong to remove the rings. Only when longer spirals are needed or bruises on the collarbone have to be treated, the neck rings are removed.

Myths behind the Kayans wearing copper rings

There are few myths explaining why the Kayan women wear those rings around the neckline. It is said to have to do with:

Large hand-painted portrait Kayan woman by Frank Wagtmans
Large hand-painted portrait - Kayan woman by Frank Wagtmans

Video: Making a painting by Frank Wagtmans