Due to her interest in northern handicrafts, textile artist Kanchalee Ngamdamronk worked with an artisan from Lamphun and one from the Lisu ethnic group. Their collaborative work resulted in the exhibition "Polychrome".
Chromatic Roll is the first colourful art piece in "Polychrome". It embodies geometric patterns and was made from colourful plastic sewn together. Kanchalee said ethnic groups have their own unique fabric styles.
"The Lisu cut their fabrics into strips, squares, rectangles and triangles. Then, they sew these pieces together. This technique creates a fabric with new patterns based on geometric forms. The strips are rolled and sold at fabric markets in Chiang Mai. People use these strips to decorate their clothes," she said.
At "Polychrome", the Lisu pattern style was created from plastic materials which have both soft and hard textures.
"Plastic is used as the main material at 'Polychrome' because my brother owns a plastic factory. Plastic bags that do not meet quality control are available and I want to make use of them. I sent different sizes and colours of plastic bags that do not pass to a Lisu artisan who agreed to create art installations in collaboration with me. Then, she created Chromatic Roll," she said.
According to Kanchalee, "Polychrome" means varied colouring. Poly refers to the main materials in the exhibition -- plastic, polyester and polyethene.
"The theme of the exhibition is an exchange of experiences between the local artisan and me in different aspects. We communicate with one another through textile techniques such as knitting, weaving, sewing, cutting and colours. The end result is a different textile than what people are used to," the artist said.
Chubby Block, Chubby Log and Chubby Hollow are collaborations between Kanchalee, a Lisu artisan and a Lamphun artisan. These three art installations appear in the form of the traditional northern pillow mon plong.
"The Lamphun artisan learned how to make mon plong which is a cube pillow with holes from masters in the North. Mon plong is often given to monks or others to lean on during meditation. I think the form of the pillow is cute and we can design its holes in several patterns. I wondered what the result would be if I sent fabrics that I worked on with the Lisu artisan to the Lamphun artisan. I imagined it would be like three people talking together. Chubby Block and Chubby Log are the results of that communication," she said.
"Chubby Block is a huge pillow made of polyester fabric with polyester filling. Several people can sit on it together like a cushion. For Hollow Block, I wanted to focus on the form of mon plong. Unlike other colourful art pieces, Hollow Block appears in plain white colour. Since I do not want Hollow Block to be considered a pillow, it does not have any filling," said Kanchalee.
It is impressive to see local handicrafts recreated in art forms. "Polychrome" is not Kanchalee's first exhibition inspired by local handicrafts. In the past, she created art installations inspired by a bamboo structure of the traditional Chiang Mai umbrella. Bamboo structures were redesigned to appear in different forms and were dyed in various colours such as indigo, pink and yellow. The artist explained that she was interested in northern handicrafts because she noticed young people are not interested in them.
"I am fascinated by the umbrella structure and how artisans create it since its techniques have been around for centuries. Not only are people less interested in handicrafts, but the number of handicraft artisans has also decreased. I cannot carry on and maintain the traditional forms of these handicrafts, but I questioned myself if I could carry it on by adapting them into contemporary art," said the artist.
Kanchalee earned a bachelor's in textile design from the University of Arts London. After working in Thailand's textile industry for a few years, she went to Japan to study shibori, a Japanese indigo dyeing technique. Kanchalee currently is the co-founder of Slowstitch Studio, a textile company in Chiang Mai which uses shibori as its major technique.
"I like the simplicity of shibori. It is a dyeing technique which does not require any machinery or equipment. It requires only fabrics and threads and people can hand sew the fabrics before dyeing them. When I was in Japan, the master lived in a forest which I was not used to, since I had only lived in big cities like Bangkok and London. I was fascinated with natural colours found in nature and how the master grew and fermented indigo," she said.
At "Polychrome", Kanchalee had an opportunity to return to her roots. When she was an undergraduate student in London, she had a passion for weaving and chose it as her major. However, after she graduated, she had not woven at all. While working on "Polychrome", Kanchalee figured out her true self and that reminded her of weaving. Therefore, she started weaving by using thread, viscose rayon and plastic, and these materials turned into Meandering.
"I worked on each and every step of the process of Meandering by myself. I did not weave as a textile designer but as an artist. I used thread and plastic as my medium since I cannot paint. Using thread is what I am good at. I let myself go until I was satisfied with my work," she said.
Swirl, Yin and Yang are intriguing pieces. While Kanchalee knitted plastic bags into Swirl, a multi-coloured roll, she created large plastic tufts, Yin and Yang, inspired by the pom-poms ethnic groups use to decorate their traditional outfits.
After working on textile design for several years, Kanchalee discovered that creating art gives her freedom of expression.
"Many people told me that the production process and the end results at Slowstitch Studio are art. I also think textile design can be more than fabrics used in manufacturing clothes. When I create art, I do not have to consider the client's requirements. I can fully and independently explore," said Kanchalee.
The artist hopes that "Polychrome" will remove labels from textile art.
"Textile art has been undervalued as art because it is considered more of a handicraft. In truth, it can be both design and art. I hope that the exhibition will remove the current definition of textile art as mere handicraft and be something greater. I hope textile art will be considered as valuable as paintings or other forms of art that Thais are familiar with," said Kanchalee.
"Polychrome" runs at SAC Gallery, Sukhumvit 39, until Nov 19. Admission is free. Visit facebook.com/sacbangkok or call 02-662-0299.
