While famed Thai contemporary artist Pinaree Sanpitak’s iconic breast-stupa motifs continue to recur in her recent artworks, one shouldn’t assume that they carry the same meanings they once did.
This Sep 25-Nov 3, challenge normative ideas about the human form and find new interpretations of it through Sanpitak’s pieces at her solo exhibition, Fragmented Bodies: The Personal and The Public, held at the STPI Creative Workshop and Gallery.
In this playfully provocative series, the breast-stupa is reimagined to elicit new and different responses from the viewer; it is depicted by an alms bowl in one, but expresses gender neutrality in another. And instead of characterising the symbol as one that’s either feminine or religious (as it was previously), the art pieces that utilise the motifs seek to draw universal references, and even some ambiguity, so it won’t conform to narrow interpretations.
Breast Works Red Alert! 2, 2018, Collagraph on paper, 110.5 x 142 cm
The series also touches on negotiations that occur with the self, the environment and various cultures, which is relatable on both a public and personal level, as suggested in its title.
A resident artist at STPI since May 2018, Sanpitak creates pieces that respond to our human experiences and engages the world in which we inhabit, besides presenting her audience with a fresh perspective about situations. According to her, these works are not just about womanhood. It’s about being human, and how we interact with one another.
Fragmented Bodies: The Personal and The Public will be held at the STPI Creative Workshop and Gallery from Sep 25-Nov 3. More information available here.
