Andy Warhol-style “Pop Art” piece of art

The Allure of Rojjana: A 1990s Handmade Tribute to Yui, Thailand’s First Supermodel
THE PIECE
Type: Handmade collage/assemblage art
Materials: Original Thailand Tatler magazine covers (1990s), laminated, mounted on board, covered with glass
Frame: Teakwood from Naraya Phand (historic Bangkok souvenir shop, now closed)
Dimensions: 100cm × 60cm (39.4″ × 23.6″)
Created: Mid-to-late 1990s
Style: Warhol-inspired 12-panel repetition (folk art interpretation)
Condition: Original condition, authentic period materials, some aging consistent with 25+ year old piece
THE STORY BEHIND IT
In the mid-1990s, I worked at Le Meridien Hotel in Bangkok. I was fresh to Thailand—this was the beginning of what would become 30 years in this country.
One day, the room maids showed me a magazine called Thailand Tatler. On the cover was Yui Phetkanha—a woman from the same rural Northeast region where many of them came from. But unlike them, she was on magazine covers. She was walking runways in Paris and New York. She was working for Chanel.
The maids were excited. Here was someone who looked like them being celebrated—not as a servant, but as a supermodel. In Bangkok’s fashion world, where pale-skinned elite women dominated, this was revolutionary.
I was struck by the significance of this moment. So I asked the maids to collect the leftover Thailand Tatler magazines at the end of each month. Over time, I gathered multiple issues featuring Yui on the cover.
I cut out her face from each cover. I had each one laminated. I arranged them in a grid—inspired by Andy Warhol’s celebrity portraits—and mounted them on board under glass. Then I took the piece to Naraya Phand, a famous souvenir shop next to the hotel (it’s no longer there), and had it set in a hand-carved teakwood frame.
This piece is my witness to a cultural moment. It’s handmade, but it’s made from authentic materials from that exact time period when Yui was challenging everything Thailand’s fashion industry believed about beauty, class, and who deserved to be celebrated.
WHO IS YUI?
Rojjana ‘Yui’ Phetkanha grew up tending water buffalo in Isarn, Thailand’s poorest region. Discovered at a noodle stall in Bangkok, she became Thailand’s first internationally successful supermodel within two years.
She walked runways with Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. She was photographed by Herb Ritts. She became one of the first Asian faces of Chanel. She earned close to a million pounds a year.
But in Bangkok, where the fashion industry was dominated by pale-skinned women from elite families, she was dismissed as ‘the maid.’ She was celebrated internationally for beauty that her own country’s fashion establishment considered unacceptable.
The maids at Le Meridien understood what this meant. So did I. That’s why I made this piece.
“She was celebrated overseas for her beauty, but was considered ugly at home.” — Nic Dunlop, photojournalist
WHAT MAKES THIS PIECE SPECIAL
• Authentic period materials: These are actual Thailand Tatler covers from the 1990s when Yui was at her peak
• First-person witness: Created by someone who was there, working alongside the women who saw themselves in Yui
• Cultural documentation: Captures the impact Yui had on working-class Thai women who rarely saw themselves represented
• Folk art interpretation: Uses Warhol’s repetition technique to honor celebrity, but made by hand with personal meaning
• Historic frame: Teakwood from Naraya Phand, a beloved Bangkok shop that no longer exists on that same capacity
• Time capsule: Everything about this piece—the magazines, the lamination style, the frame—is authentically from that era
WHY IT MATTERS
This isn’t a professionally produced artwork, and I’m not claiming it is. But it’s something arguably more interesting: a personal artifact from someone who witnessed a cultural turning point.
The maids at Le Meridien couldn’t afford to buy art about Yui. They couldn’t commission a portrait. But they could save magazines. And I could turn those magazines into something that honored what her success meant to them.
This piece documents that moment from the ground level—from the perspective of the people who understood exactly what Yui had overcome because they lived it too.
It’s folk art. It’s assemblage. It’s a tribute. It’s a time capsule. It’s a personal witness to history.
IDEAL FOR
• Collectors of Thai folk art and assemblage work
• Fashion history enthusiasts interested in primary documents
• Scholars studying beauty standards, class, and cultural identity in Southeast Asia
• Anyone interested in grassroots responses to cultural moments
• People who appreciate authentic, personal storytelling over commercial production
PRICING
Asking Price: 9,000 THB
This reflects:
• Authentic period materials (original 1990s magazines)
• Hand-carved teakwood frame from historic shop
• Size and presentation quality (100cm × 60cm)
• Historical and cul