Rungruang Sittirerk – In The Dream I Look Out To See Only The Stars

Richard Koh Projects is pleased to announce Rungruang Sittirerk (b.1988) solo exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand; In The Dream I Look Out To See Only The Stars, scheduled to run from 11th – 31st March 2021 at Richard Koh Projects, Unit A, 3rd Floor, N22 Art Warehouse, 2198/10-11 Narathiwas Road Soi 22, Chong Nonsi, Yan Nawa, Bangkok 10120, Thailand. The artist will present his recent works ranging from charcoal drawing on paper, acrylic on canvas, to a steel and terracotta sculpture.

Moving from place to place in his childhood inspires Sittirerk’s interest in creating art surrounding how people move and migrate. Influenced by narratives from the provinces and his own personal experience with parents who became labourers in Thailand in 1977, his works focus on modern capitalism and globalization. In this body of work, he connects issues through the stories of displaced people in urban areas with exploration of content relevant to people of the working class, using landscapes reminiscent of urban places and memories. The use of grayscale and warm tones offers a melancholic mood with a sense of yearning from the diaspora.

Inspired by a phrase from the Star Trek Discovery Series, “We are all from somewhere, we always bring that place along, a place of hope. Everywhere you go and it never fades from our heart entirely”, Sittirerk brings forth the social structure of a developing city through the movement of people and their labour.

People’s happiness, dreams, and suffering follow them from home to the contemporary world, regardless of the place they live in: city or countryside. Through In The Dream I Look Out To See Only The Stars, Sittirerk encourages viewers to introspect on what their lives could become with strength. In life where there are many possibilities, the best solution is discovered with courage.

Rungruang Sittirerk (b.1988, Chiang Mai, Thailand) now lives in Bangkok. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sculpture) from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang University, Thailand in 2010, and received his Master of Fine Arts (Visual Art) from Silpakorn University in 2015.

Sittirerk’s other exhibitions include, The Metamorphosis, Escape Route (The Parq), Bangkok Art Biennale 2020 (BAB2020), The End is Now, and Now is Here: The Exploration of Drawing, SAC Subhachok Art Gallery 2020. Sittirerk was also chosen as a young artist in the Brand New Art Project art, curated by Herman Ou which was exhibited at Bangkok University Gallery (BUG, Bangkok, 2018). In the same year, he was selected to participate in the EARLY YEARS PROJECT at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (BACC, Bangkok, 2018).