Grace Blake: visual arts in Chiang Mai

Grace Blake is studying a bachelor of Visual Arts at the Australian National University and recently completed a mentorship with senior staff at Chiang Mai University’s media arts and design department.

Grace says she chose Thailand for a number of reasons. As a digital artist, she is interested in the way that people engage with technology and Thais are one of the biggest internet users in the region. She also examined the parallel experiences of the jungle or forest and internet ecologies, so Thailand seemed like a fantastic base to start this research. "I was also hoping to find a faculty with a interesting perspective on media arts education and I definitely found that with media arts CMU."

"The kindness and generosity of Thais goes without saying and I have never had a smile turned down. The cities here, although congested, work. I can get around Bangkok with way more ease than Sydney. I also love having super-fast internet, it makes so much possible in my practice as a digital artist and its been a fantastic tool for business and innovation in this country."