Word: yas
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...chosen to set the theme of a recent issue devoted to antique Cambodian art, a high-priced passion among collectors around the world. Few readers knew that the images on the cover had been given new noses and restorative face-lifts by a young Thai artist known simply as Yas. Or that Yas, in his busy, unnamed shop on a small side street in Bangkok, does much more than restore antiquities. With astonishing ease and almost frightening frequency, Yas can sculpt his own "ancient" Khmer art, so convincing in style and apparent age that his works have passed expert scrutiny...
Even Thailand's foremost art historian, Piriya Krairiksh, admits that he has trouble distinguishing Yas' reproductions from the 11th century originals. "It's awfully difficult because of his technical excellence, "Piriya explains. "Yas is not a slavish copier. He makes creative copies...
...creative, indeed, that at least one of Yas' reproductions now resides in a European museum. No one will identify the institution. "It would be very embarrassing to many people," says Yas...
...artist's expertise does not embarrass Thai antique dealers, who often pass off Yas' reproductions as originals. While the sculptor's work is so highly regarded that he charges between $1,000 and $2,000 for his best stone figures, the dealers who peddle them as antiques can ask-and get-up to ten times as much...
...Yas, 32, came to his profession without formal training. The son of Chinese immigrants, he grew up in Bangkok, dropped out of high school after the tenth grade and joined a rock band as a bass guitarist. At 23 he left rock for stone, becoming an apprentice at an antique store...