Breathe: A Dual exhibition by Chatmongkol Insawang & Imhathai Suwatthanasilp (Curated by Nim Niyomsin)

Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) is pleased to announce a group exhibition of two Thai artists; Imhathai Suwatthanasilp (b.1981) and Chatmongkol Insawang (b.1980). The exhibition is curated by Nim Niyomsin, titled Breathe, this exhibition is scheduled to run from 24 September – 15 October 2022 at Richard Koh Fine Art Singapore, Blk 47 Malan Road, #01-26 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109444.

The atmosphere surrounding us, circulating through all life, is part of the ecosystem. In ancient Greek, the word for breath, Pneuma, also implies ‘spirit’ and ‘soul’. The human respiration system is significant since it connotes something both intimate and communal, revealing social and physical connections through the air we breathe.

Imhathai Suwatthanasilp weaves human hair into specific shapes. She also uses hair for mono-print and outlines on canvas. Her art is a reaction against the intense air pollution she faces in the North of Thailand. She explores the stubble burning problem and the underlying complex issues of the country’s political, economic, and social structures.

Death and sickness in his family started Chatmongkol Insawang’s fixation with life’s fragility. The body is a burden, a shell whose existence relies on air circulation. Induced by the large-scale destruction of the pandemic, his attention expanded from his life to society and the interrelationships within.

Suwatthanasilp and Insawang tackle the deeper relationship between people and their environments. Everything and everyone are interconnected. Works in this exhibition result from personal and painstaking processes. Every breath and movement while working requires high concentration. Respiration not only appears in the subject matter but also underlies the artists’ practices, their physical and psychological states linger in the art.

Chatmongkol Insawang (b.1980, Thailand) graduated from the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University, with a Bachelor’s degree with 2^nd Class Honors (2003), a Master’s Degree (2009), and a Doctor of Philosophy (Visual Art) (2019). He received an Italian government scholarship to study in Italy and received a Diploma in Sculpture (Hons) from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze in 2008. While working and exhibiting his work, he teaches at the Department of Fine Art, Poh-Chang Academy of Arts, and was Head of the sculpture program from 2014-2017.

Insawang started his higher education in sculpture with a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s degree. He has always been interested in human nature. His works during this period revealed the darker side of humans, from desire to greed, hatred, and envy, through works of art. Nonetheless, toward the end of his Master’s, the illnesses of his mother and later himself changed his focus to other human aspects. 

He started to search for the meaning of our existence and to observe our body and its connection and place in the natural world. His works began focusing on the body as a source of suffering, an organic shell covering the self. The act of breathing and the air flowing through this shell connects the body to its environment and helps prolong the decay. This development became clear during his Doctoral study from the subject matters, visuals, forms, and technique. As a result, his sculptures show fewer characteristics and individuality. He has also started working more on 2D surfaces. He is now known as a sculptor who creates sculptures and line drawings that seek the meaning of life, the inner and outer space, and the transformations of the body.

Insawang has won numerous awards, including the Bronze Medal (sculpture), the 64^th National Exhibition of Art (2019), and the Silver Medal (sculpture), the 49^th National Exhibition of Art (2003). His exhibitions include Time-Lapse: Reflecting on Thai Art, 333 Gallery in collaboration with Thai Art Collector Association, Bangkok (2021), Area 5+1 : PRECIOUS SPACE, the National Gallery, Bangkok (2020), Art Relation, Andaman Art Museum, Krabi (2015), Young Blood Sculpture, PSG Gallery, Bangkok (2011) and Opera Muta, DEA Gallery, Florence, Italy (2008). His works are also part of public and private collections, including the Bangkok Sculpture Center, Krung Thai Bank, Sermkhun Kunawong Museum House, Bangkok, Silpakorn University, and Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology: VISTEC, Rayong.

He currently lives and works in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Known for her mixed media and the use of human hair, Imhathai Suwatthanasilp (b.1981, Thailand) regularly uses various art genres, techniques, and materials. Her art practice explores many complex issues, starting from something personal such as family and identity, to issues within cultural, historical, and social contexts. She is interested in the concept of morality, customs, and beliefs, things that help shapes people’s personality and social behaviours. 

Suwatthanasilp received a Bachelor’s degree with 2^nd Class Honors, and a Master’s degree from the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University, in 2008. During this time, she got a scholarship for an Exchange Program to study at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, France (2006). Not long after, she received a scholarship from the Government of Italy to take a course in Marble Carving at Academia di Belle Arti di Firenze, Italy (2009). She was a full-time instructor at Silpakorn University from 2011-2017. Currently, she works as a full-time artist with occasionally gets invited to art schools as a guest lecturer.

Before her father passed away from an incurable illness in 2003, he had intentionally grown his hair, cut it, and divided it amongst his four daughters as a keepsake. For Suwatthanasilp, hair holds a special meaning, and she has been using it as her main material. In addition to using her own hair, she also uses hair donated by others from all walks of life to reflect on the subjects.

Suwatthanasilp is an artist who is continually developing. She was part of the Trans-Synthesis exhibition at the Songkhla Pavillion in Venice, 2019. In 2016, she was invited to participate in the residency program of the Ketemu Project in Bali, Indonesia. Her major solo exhibitions in Thailand are Ruen Sam Nam See (7 Elements), Numthong Gallery, Aree, Bangkok (2017), Rebirth, Numthong Gallery, Aree, Bangkok (2014), Hair For Hope, Bangkok Art and Culture Center (2012), Diary of a Weaving Story, Ardel Gallery of Modern Art, Bangkok (2010).

She has exhibited in art institutions, museums and biennales worldwide, including The Biennale of Sydney 2022, Sydney, Australia, Bangkok Art Biennale 2018, Jakarta Biennale 2017, Indonesia, THAI TRANSIENCE, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2012), Fabrications, The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila, Philippines (2011), Show Me Your Hair, Coreana Museum of Art, Space*C, Seoul, South Korea (2011), Identity, body it, NCA Nichido Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan (2010), Busan Biennale 2010, South Korea, International Incheon Women Artists Biennale 2009, South Korea, DNA at Valentine Willie Fine Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2008), and Memory: My Hair, ENSBA, Paris, France (2007).

Her works are part of public collections around the world, including the Singapore Art Museum, The Art of The City of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Maiiam Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Suwatthanasilp currently lives and works in Lamphun, Thailand.