Imhathai Suwattanasilp

Thai artist Imhathai Suwatthanasilp is complicated and mind boggling, even more so than just the pronunciation of namesake. This July, VWFA features her installation in their project room that includes sculptural objects and photographs comprising crocheted veils made of her own hair.

Without the intention to depict a personal infliction of chemotherapy, her collected strands instead weave a narrative of her personal history, redefining the scientism that is suggested in the exhibition’s title, DNA. It instead suggests a playful evocation of devotion, nostalgia and adoration. In other words, she explores her 27 years of love, loss and everything in between via her DNA, in this way, exhibiting herself in every intimate aspect.

The veil will perpetually be in progress. Imhathai notes that she will continue to add to it and exhibit in the future. “Hair represents the process of our journey towards death,” she explains. “As they fall out, the shedding reminds me of the brevity of life, forcing me to confront the fact that every day I am dying too.” With the significance of fallen follicles as a loss, it also suggests the disappearance of the traces of her past that are slowly fading away. In having gathered her fallen hair, she crochets them to weave her history into somewhat of a memory container. The use of crocheting as a method signifies the strong familial ties she cherishes that resonate in each bound strand.

The exhibition in this sense is interestingly unique, in that it is profoundly personal to the extent of appearing strange, yet universally resonant, intimating the visual power of a single strand of hair that contains the varied human experiences that connect us in more than just scientific ways. To Imhathai, it represents her fears, her love, loss and life that she hopes to share with an audience, another connection to add to her veil in the future.

Text Claudia Low