Exhibitions

A Dual Exhibition ‘Breathe’ Chatmongkol Insawang & Imhathai Suwatthanasilp – Richard Koh Fine Art

Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA)

Sep 24 - Oct 15, 2022

 ^{All images by courtesy of Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA)}

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.

Artists Boigraphy

Chatmongkol Insawang (b.1980, Thailand) graduated from the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University, with a Bachelor’s degree with 2nd 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.

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 2nd 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.