What We Deserve

The world is dark, cold, and empty.
Nothing should live there.
But the boy and the girl. They were left here.
Searching for a reason to stay. A reason to keep going.
There was no light. There were no adults. They have no guardians nor guidance.

Lost little boy and lonely little girl, together on their own, hand in hand. They walk under the sea of tiny little stars. Faint glimmers. Barely seen. It’s their only hope. Their only lead to see the end. In the dark and cold and mud, their minds burn and bleed with the question

Is this what we deserve?

“...What we deserve” in my language probably means “Whatever things we should have earned”.

I want this set of work to capture certain feelings, from the time my life was at the bottom, in the dark, no ray of hope nor helping hands reaching out to me at all. To the time when I finally started to float.

Not until I reached the light. I never reach there.

But until I reached a point where, even though I was still in the dark, I started to question myself - Have I been spending all my life hating everything?

Have I just never looked at something else, That actually has been there with me, all this time?...”

Born to a household of hard working parents, Bobby Leash grew up spending little time with his own family. His parents did their best to compensate for their lack of time with something else. Like many children of his time, what piqued his interest the most were comic books and video games.

His world slowly turned from reality to imagination. A safe space he created where he could escape his problems. A friend who stays by his side when he tries to chase away his loneliness. It taught him his artistic skills. It brought him his meaning of life. A creation that would never leave him.

Bobby’s work acts as a mirror that reflects his inner self that he cannot reveal to the real world. All the sinking, maddening feeling, swirling to the point of breaking his mind, serve as hard inspirations that keep pushing him to create art - something resembling him. A hollowed reflection from a hollowed mirror. To remind his audience of an empty world. A barren place without hope nor light shines through.

But as we look closer, within this series, there is a glimmer. A tiny little gleam, hidden deep within the supposed dead eyes of his characters. From the darkest, most hopeless times of his life, to the time he realized he must grasp his own future, to the very end where it reflects his own epiphany, his decision to continue to face the reality with his loved one.

Despite their crippling fear, against their blinding pain, seeping from their wound.
The boy gently pulls the girl’s hand away from her face, still wet with tears.
The girl looked into his eyes, not expecting anything. But she sees something different this time.
A sparkle. Shiny. Barely seen. But it’s there.
Their eyes lock together, and it whispers to them.
To never let go, ever again.

We would like to invite you to come to What We Deserve, solo exhibition by Bobby Leash. In the exhibition, you will see several pieces of paintings, art prints and apparels in collaboration with Sculpture, fashion brand by Ek Thongprasert.

The opening ceremony is on 12th May 2024 from 5 PM onward. on 1st floor of Joyman Gallery, Bangkok. The exhibition is on view from 12th May to 16th June 2024.