Montien Boonma (1953–2000), who was born in Bangkok, Thailand, graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Silpakorn University, Bangkok, and later studied in France at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and the Université de Paris VIII, Faculté des Arts Plastiques, Saint-Denis. During his career Boonma participated in many group and solo exhibitions worldwide.

Boonma was a devout Buddhist and turned to its discipline as a means of thinking about the contemporary world. Aware of a rapidly modernising Thai society and a related distancing and rupturing of traditional forms of spiritual life, he continued to reflect on Buddhist thought as an essential starting point for his practice. Boonma used familiar Buddhist symbols, such as the bowl, bell and lotus as a method of locating the works within a specific belief and ritual system. He also extended many of his sculptures to incorporate process based elements, such as the meditation sculptures. These works often appeal to the sensory aspects of the body — scent, sound, sight — as a means of creating a space to lead the viewer/participant into contemplation and reflection.