'Hanuman Fights a Sea Dragon'

PROJECT INFO

2017

Client: Personal

Medium: Digital, Photoshop

'Wondering why the bridge to Lanka is not progressing quickly, Hanuman goes to investigate. He then finds the fish and other sea creatures sent by the demon king Ravana's mermaid daughter to carry off the bridge stones. Here, he wrests a stone from the mouth of a sea dragon.' (Excerpt from learnnc.org)

Being of Thai heritage but being born and bred in Australia, I've always been a bit out of touch with my Thai roots.  Hanuman has always fascinated me as a child - listening to my Dad tell my little sister stories from the Ramakien in his broken english,  he would tell her about Hanuman and his adventures as a general in King Pra Ram's army, fighting demons and courting 'bar-maids', which we later learned were actually 'mermaids' - we hung on his every word nonetheless.  I grew up watching Dragonball and Monkey Magic on TV, alternate versions of Hanuman, and love the idea that we had our own version of a mischevious monkey spirit that was a little closer to home.

This image depicts a scene from the Ramakien, and is based off a part of a mural that can be found at the Emerald Buddha Temple in Thailand.  In most of my reworks of older artworks, I try to add a bit of research and backstory to the new renditions.  I've chosen to make the sea dragon an amalgamation of an oarfish, a lobster and the mythical Phaya Naga creatures from south-east asian lore.  Hanuman himself is a mix of Grey Langur and Rhesus monkeys.