Nalyne Lunati is a Thai-American artist, born in Bangkok,
Thailand. She immigrated to the United States when she was six
years old with her parents. Lunati has always wanted to be an
artists ever since she was 12 years old when she started classical
fine arts training.
After getting a B.A. in Political Economy of Industrial
Societies (P.E.I.S.) and a minor in Business Administration from
U.C. Berkeley, in 1995, she never forgot the dream of being an
artist and returning to grad school for painting. While working
full time, she furthered her studies of art and art history by taking
classes California College of the Arts, U.C. Berkeley, and De Anza
College. She rented a tiny studio in Berkeley and started to build
her portfolio. In 2004, she applied to the top M.F.A. programs in
the Bay Area where she was accepted to half of them. She chose
the M.F.A. program in painting at San José State University,
where she graduated in 2007. She currently resides in the Bay
Area and is the Founder of Avant-Garde Art Studio in Pleasanton,
California, since 2008.
She has been accepted to Art in U.S. Embassies program in
2009, where two of her paintings hang in the U.S. Embassy in
Burma. The dire political situation in Burma and the
demonstrations of the monks moved Lunati greatly. She enclosed
a card, along with her paintings to the Chargé d’Affaires, Larry M.
Dinger in Burma, expressing empathy, hope and metta (Pali word
for loving-kindness) to the people of Burma. To the artist’s
surprise, Mr. Dinger responded to her with a personalized letter.
It is moments like this, that make the struggles of being an artist
worthwhile. Even though Lunati can easily consider herself an
American artist, the training she received at the age of twelve,
from a Thai master painter, instilled a pride in her Thai heritage.
Lunati was introduced to civic duty and Asian American
issues at the age of twelve when she entered Mayor’s Tom Bradley
Asian American Heritage Award Poster contest, where she won
2nd place in 1988 and 1st in 1989. The theme of the contest was to
illustrate the influence of Asian Americans in Los Angeles. These
milestones were a revelation for the young artist that an artist has
the power to influence society. The journey helped to strengthen
her resolve to pursue a career in fine arts.
Since 2004, Lunati has been sculpting society through her
art instruction at various art centers and Avant-Garde Art studio.
She is proud to be a role model for countless young artists, who
are considering art school. Lunati challenges the stereotypes of
race, gender, religious orientation and nationality through her
artwork, teaching and studio practice. Her life style and work
ethics represent a true merger of Eastern and Western
philosophies.
Website
http://www.nalynelunati.com
