Lea Dingjan-Laarakker

Lea (pronounced “Layah”) Dingjan-Laarakker is an amazing woman. Whilst “smooth as silk” may be the catch-cry used by Thai International, the Kingdom’s national carrier, Lea too is smooth and silk is her second name.

Now living and working in Bangkok, she is an internationally acclaimed textile artist who has always been involved in women’s social affairs. This was to become a major issue for the lives of some Thai women, whose plight she was to discover by accident.

Lea was born in Holland, and through vocational training took up design in the lace manufacturing industry. She was active in local government, being a member of her town council in her home city of Hilvershum in the Netherlands. Lea was also given the honour of being appointed by the Dutch Queen to be a spokeswoman for women’s affairs to UNESCO in 1986-1987.

However, despite being proudly Dutch, Lea and her husband Alexander came to Thailand fourteen and a half years ago after he retired. The couple spent two months travelling upcountry and they were inspired to visit a small Isaan hamlet called Ban Reng Khai, because that was where their foster daughters Rasamee and Ruam were born.

Lea not only fell in love with the people of Ban Reng Khai (which means Village of the Prey Birds Nest), it was to become her life. A substantial donation from the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok initially enabled her to fund the Ban Reng Khai silk weaving project - a “self help” project which has expanded to encompass a study foundation, fishponds, water conservation and educational grants, health care and much more in the lives of the villagers.

But Lea is better known in the ex-pat community for her silk work. Her silk weaving and painting industry now employs 200 weavers. Using a hand shuttle the women villagers can produce one and a half metres of silk a day each. Of note is that Lea has developed the quality silk fabric herself, drawing on the villagers’ ancestral traditions which have rapidly been disappearing from many other places.

Surprisingly, Lea had no formal training in art. She commenced working in factories and companies in Holland as a lace designer, but her love of textiles produced a natural artistic progression to fabric painting, then silk weaving and painting. “I only use textiles and only ever draw on fabric. I love the feel of natural fabrics; linen and silk are more lively and natural as well. When I paint fabric I always stretch it first, then I get the inspiration. My personal belief is that if you produce things in factories with dangerous chemicals and machines you are not going to live to enjoy the money you make. In addition you end up with mass produced, uniform, unnatural looking articles.” Strong words from someone who began in textile factories herself.

Lea is not afraid to experiment and try different techniques either. A unique solar application that Lea teaches is heliography or sun printing. The artist (even children) enjoy directly applying the dye to natural coloured woven silk, which is stretched in spans in the open sunlight. Pieces of grasses or leaves or feathers can be placed on top to achieve a sun print that is developed naturally by six hours exposure to the sun.

These days, Lea spends about 20-30 hours a week painting in her home studio in Bangkok. Her unique designs are both nationally and internationally recognized and she has had many exhibitions abroad during her artistic career. Lea has also been granted membership of the world famous Silk Association in Lyon France and says that the highlight of her career came with her successful silk exhibition in Paris in 1999. “The exhibition was sold out and then I knew I was proceeding in the right direction, introducing modern designs to traditional hand woven silk. I think it is a very good addition to Thailand, a 100% Thai product bridging the old and the new.”

To Lea, her art means a peace of mind, relaxation and happiness and way of self-expression. Success is, “Helping other people to achieve creativity and that the village projects sells well and is recognized and has a future. I especially enjoy working with other people, not only just that village; it may have been a village in Mexico. I just like to work together with others to be creative and achieve balance and happiness in a way of life.” Her advice to others farang women living here is, “Learn to speak Thai as soon as you can. There is so much you can do as soon as you can communicate.”

Lea no longer has enough time to travel extensively with exhibitions, so has a studio in Bangkok. ‘Studio Lea’ at the Hilton Promenade in Bangkok sells a full range of her abstract silk and figurative paintings. Lea’s work is best described as alive and vivid and full of sparkle and originality. Additionally, 75% of her sales got to fund the village project. To remind the studio visitors of the origins of her artistry, as well as the stunning silk fabrics designed for fashion, wraps, interior decoration, banners and furnishings or even painted silk greeting cards, her book “Ban Reng Khai A Village in Thailand” can be purchased there. It costs only 295 baht, and all funds go directly to supporting the Village foundation.

A fulfilled and admirable woman Lea Dingjan-Laarakker has managed to not only express her own talents through silk, she has allowed Isaan villagers to express their artistry through their native fabric too. Truly an amazing and symbiotic relationship between some native skilled Thai villagers and a remarkable Dutch woman.