Native Elements n°33, 2021

Imhathai Suwatthanasilp   New & remarkable Artists

Imhathai Suwatthanasilp is a contemporary artist born in Bangkok in 1981. She received her Bachelor and Master degrees in Thai Arts from Silpakorn University of Fine Arts in Bangkok. In 2006, she participated in the exchange program at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. She also received a scholarship from the Italian government to study marble sculpture in Florence, Italy in 2009 and obtained a certificate in marble sculpture from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.

Since her first solo exhibition in 2008, Imhathai has developed a mode of production characterised by the use of human hair, often her own, which she weaves, crochets, embroiders or laces into quiet and intimate two- and three-dimensional works that reflect on the nature of family ties, domesticity, the female body and female identity.
Intimacy also characterises Imhathai's works on paper, which often reference the landscape and natural world around his studio in rural Lamphoon in northern Thailand.

Her works have been exhibited at art events and venues such as Incheon International Women Artists Biennale 2009, Incheon, Korea; Busan Biennale 2010, Busan, Korea; NCA Nichido Contemporary Art, 2010, Tokyo, Japan; Coreana Museum of Art, Space*C 2011, Seoul, Korea; Museum of Contemporary Art and Design 2011, Manila, Philippines; Singapore Art Museum 2012, Singapore; Jakarta Biennale 2017, Indonesia. She was selected for the Bangkok Art Biennale 2018. In 2019, her works were presented at the Songkhla Pavilion, Venice Biennale. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Singapore Art Museum, Maiiam Museum, and The art of the city of Gothenburg, Sweden.