KAIAROONSUTH Chonticha: Crossways 吳瀞涓《界限交界》
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KAIAROONSUTH Chonticha 吳瀞涓
25 November – 22 December, 2023 Gallery EXIT presents ‘Crossways’, solo exhibition of local artist Kaiaroonsuth Chonticha, opening on 25 November 2023 until 22 December 2023, featuring new painting works by the artist. The artist draws on her year of living in a subdivided flat on Ki Lung Street/Boundary Street in Kowloon, in search of hints of fermentation and the growth of life from things as big as the self and other people to those as small as the moss on the wall. Beginning with the wall and the moss, Kaiaroonsuth Chonticha develops a series of explorations into the self, others and the city. Her mixed cultural heritage and Chinese and Thai is at once rooted in tradition and encompassing transition, alienation and intersection. As a result, the artist’s way of seeing is also diverse and shifting, full of uncertainties. With her not too fluent Cantonese, the artist’s Thai mother speaks in an illogical manner full of unexpected associations, splashed with the innocent and joyful character of Thai people. This is counteracted by her traditional Teochew father and Hong Kong-style education. Growing up through stories in life as a ‘vessel’ instead of a subject, the artist as an observer is especially sensitive to the dynamics between things and self-consciousness. Manifested in her creation, these become brushstrokes left over from repeated superimpositions and erasures. While Kaiaroonsuth Chonticha’s previous works mostly revolved around transforming spaces or subjects, exploring the dynamic relationship between people, objects and space/spiritual space, her recent works are more about observations and imaginations of her personal life and the city. Her natural choice of medium, painting’s slow rhythm and versatility allow her to understand the many aspects of things in the process of creation, echoing the relaxed and ruminating side of herself. The artist explores the self and other things through painting and literature, guided by a constant practice of yoga and walking towards an aesthetics of living. Mostly by metaphors and imaginative associations, the artist paints along the flow, constantly making changes until the image is complete. Images, sketches and text usher in the next step, each day a little is added to or taken out of the picture, retracing when there is an excess. The artist imagines herself as a child drawing graffiti on the wall: The pencil follows the texture and traces on the wall, the imaginary space interacts with the simple essence of material, inadvertently evoking some ancient history. The works in this exhibition portray the artist’s experience after a year of relocating to a subdivided flat in Flower Market near Boundary Street in Kowloon, mostly seen from the night after a day of work. During her late night walks, the artist pays close attention to the plants around, especially the moss on the walls: Alive without a distinct orientation or established form, an allusion to time and a penetrating medium that attaches itself to hard objects in- and outdoors. The wall, on the other hand, serves as the medium with which the artist intervenes and observes the fermentation and growth of life. Deviating from previous moss-themed paintings made on tissue wrap, the new works depict the indoor moss that the artist encounters after moving out of the industrial building into the city. Experimenting with a new painting method, the new abstract expressive works move away from the older works where subjects can be discerned, demonstrating an exercise in texture and colour between chaos and clarity, with the occasional help of outlines, yet focusing more on conveying a feeling or narrative expression. |