Fresh Face: Kamolros Wonguthum
Reconstructing Thai femininity
A&M's Fresh Face is where we profile an emerging artist from the region every month and speak to them about how they kick-started their career, how they continue to sustain their practice and what drives them as artists.
Kamolros Wonguthum.
Kamolros Wonguthum applies autobiographical storytelling to dissect the gendered power structures she faces as a Thai woman. The London and Bangkok based artist draws from her personal narrative as an entry point into discourses on Feminist Critical Theory. With an oeuvre ranging from drawing, poetry, collage and more, Wonguthum frequently employs a mixed media approach to craft commentaries that decenter the patriarchy so as to make space for female empowerment.
After graduating from Bangkok University with an undergraduate degree in visual arts, Wonguthum departed to London to attend a fine arts graduate program at Goldsmiths University of London. Since then, the artist has divided her time between London and Bangkok, oftentimes tapping into her own experiences as a female artist in the two cities. She has participated in both group and solo exhibitions, including They Have Brought an Eraser with Them (2020) at A+ Work of Art Gallery and I Take Care of Things (2019) at Raw Labs, with more exhibitions coming as part of her current residency at Gallery Ver, Bangkok. With her distinct voice and clear feminist stance, Wonguthum not only integrates poetry into her art practice buthas a self-published book titled A WEEK ROMANCE about South-East Asian romance and the Bangkok art world.
Wonguthum’s first solo exhibition I AM A FEMININE PROTAGONIST / ฉันเป็นตัวนำหญิง(แต่ฉันไม่ใช่นางเอก) (2017) unpacks the hypervisibility of female sexuality through her experience as a Thai woman. In a series of metallic collages, she uses metaphors for female sexuality like cherries, which is a symbol of desirable virginity, and candies, a reference to the commodification of female bodies. Through these works, the artist voices her awareness of the foreign male gaze in Thailand where sex tourism is rampant. Inspired by stories of women coming out as victims, Wonguthum intends to depict the Thai femininity as a dynamic construct defined by Thai women embracing their individuality rather than a stereotype that oppresses women.
Kamolros Wonguthum, Tales of Eyes, 2017, installation view at MFA Fine Art Degree Show at Goldsmiths University. Image courtesy of the artist.
Wonguthum’s first solo exhibition I AM A FEMININE PROTAGONIST / ฉันเป็นตัวนำหญิง(แต่ฉันไม่ใช่นางเอก) (2017) unpacks the hypervisibility of female sexuality through her experience as a Thai woman. In a series of metallic collages, she uses metaphors for female sexuality like cherries, which is a symbol of desirable virginity, and candies, a reference to the commodification of female bodies. Through these works, the artist voices her awareness of the foreign male gaze in Thailand where sex tourism is rampant. Inspired by stories of women coming out as victims, Wonguthum intends to depict the Thai femininity as a dynamic construct defined by Thai women embracing their individuality rather than a stereotype that oppresses women.
Kamolros Wonguthum, Second Best (sketch no.2), 2020, ink and pencil on tracing paper, Indian cotton paper, and Hermes shopping bag (paper), 48 x 42cm. Image courtesy of the artist, A+Works of Art and Ver Gallery.
Through the lens of Materialist Feminism, Second Best (2020) recognises the inherently patriarchal characteristic embedded within the infrastructure of capitalism. Wonguthum overlays a deconstructed Hermès shopping bag with ink sketches of women expressing their agency by playing golf and protesting. However, by utilising people’s instant association of Hermès’ signature Orange H to the French luxury brand, she prompts viewers to reflect on their unconscious fixations on consumerism. Second Best serves as a reminder to women not to settle for the deceptive gains of representational politics or ‘girlboss culture’. It reminds women not to fight to be in the free market, but rather to fight to be free.
Interview
Kamolros Wonguthum, I AM A FEMININE PROTAGONIST: ฉันเป็นตัวนำหญิงแต่ฉันไม่ใช่นางเอก, 2017, installation view at Ver Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist and Ver Gallery.
Could you talk about your background? And at what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in art?
I was born in Bangkok, Thailand and grew up in quite a competitive environment at school. Looking back, I was already into art and writing when in primary school, and I would participate in art contests as well as pen articles for kids magazines. This habit of drawing and writing was a form of expression, and I was in my own little world.
And in secondary school, I encountered things outside of my usual habits and environment of studying, extra-tutoring and K-Pop. For instance, I found a photographic community online and began taking photos on a film camera, and would meet this group outside of school. It was fun and eye-opening to hang out with professional adults, and they were kind to a 14-year-old me.
Still, I had to go to Siam Square, which is the central point of Bangkok, for many extra-tutoring classes like most of my schoolmates. Then, one day, I walked past White Space, a contemporary gallery after class, and went inside. I remember the moment where I was sitting on the floor within an installation, and I sat there for quite a long time. The feeling was subliminal and I realised how powerful art could be. I kept going to this gallery after my classes every weekend, and developed a genuine relationship with the gallery manager as well as the artists. For a very young girl, I learned tremendously.
I also discovered the William Warren Library nearby, which helped a great deal in expanding my knowledge in Western art and contemporary Thai art. I started to see the ways in which I could put together what I was doing and making in an artistic manner. After that, I had my first solo exhibition in my school when I was 15 years old. I did everything from start to finish, such as asking for permission to use a space, installing the work as well as sending out online invitations. That was when I was certain I wanted to pursue a career in art.
Could you share how you’ve maintained your practice after graduation? What are the important factors that have kept you going?
While I was finishing my BFA at Bangkok University, it was challenging to continue my practice because the work I made did not seem to belong within the current scope of the Thai art scene then. Despite the limited structural and professional support I was given, I never felt discouraged or felt the need to change my interests. I always sought to make things happen as much as I could. After I finished my degree, I was able to make a living off of my art through private sales and group exhibitions. I always look back at that time and feel grateful to every single person who saw what I believed in because their kind support then has led me to meaningful friendships today.
However, since graduating from my MFA at Goldsmiths University in 2017, trying to maintain my practice in London has been different. In Bangkok it was possible to live solely off my art because the living costs are affordable. In London, I have had to find the balance between working part-time jobs for a couple of days, and making art for the rest of the week. I maintain my living space and studio in London, and have also been showing my work in Thailand and Southeast Asia through the support of Ver Gallery, where I am represented in the region.
“I think the deeper I go into feminist theory, the more I am able to see the things I have done and made in my art work starting to make sense, “in and of” the world.”
How did the opportunity for your first solo show, I AM A FEMININE PROTAGONIST: ฉันเป็นตัวนำหญิงแต่ฉันไม่ใช่นางเอก at Ver Gallery, Bangkok come about?
Prior to this show I put together an independent solo exhibition in 2012 called Catharsis in my own rented space in Soi Kasemsan 2, near the Siam Square area. This show was the beginning of my engagement with the Thai art scene. I’ve formed a relationship with Ver Gallery over the years, and before my graduation at Goldsmiths University, they contacted me about this opportunity. That’s how this exhibition became my first solo exhibition in a professional art gallery.
What was the process like preparing for it?
I had about 3 months to prepare the exhibition while writing my dissertation, which was then adapted to be the main research for the show. I enjoyed making this work, continuing the themes and process from my degree show, but using more sophisticated themes in feminism relating to Thai social structures, with a better understanding of the history and meaning behind the materials I used to fit alongside the images I created.
Feminism is an overarching theme in your artistic portfolio. In your exhibition Second Best (2020), you crafted a commentary to how feminism cannot be decoupled from radical changes to capitalism. And previously, your work in the series I AM A FEMININE PROTAGONIST (2017 & 2018) discusses intersectionality by breaking down feminine social constructs unique to Thai women. Have you adapted your artistic expression as you dive deeper into feminist theory?
Feminism naturally grew into a passion of mine alongside my art practice. When I was a kid, I started to draw feminine-subjects like a flower, a bow, a cherry, or female cartoon characters. Once I began to feel inspired by women in the art world, I discovered feminist books and fell deeply in love with them. I could envision how my art could add to the discourses, resonances and critiques I read.
Growing up, witnessing gender inequality and oppression in society was an enormous push for me to do things. I wish to dismantle gender norms from personalised to social levels in my art. I think the deeper I go into feminist theory, the more I am able to see the things I have done and made in my art work starting to make sense, “in and of” the world. Sometimes it would take me a while to rationalise why I did what I did, why I expressed things the way I did or how my actions are a part of a bigger picture. This awareness comes from a process of realisation through making art and reflecting deeply on what I have made, which always creates ripples in what I make next.
In my early works, I lived in the process of art-making with my whole being. I let the young-girl in me be spirited through my art methodology, while simultaneously researching the wider subjects around feminism and art. But since 2017, when my young-girl-ness started to fade from within, I began making work through my patriarchal social radar. I started my research with specifics in feminist theory, then expanding it through my work.
Contexts are essential for developing art works that critique the social world. One has to see that capitalism has been incorporated into all other social structures as the dominant global ideology of how society works. However, within these structures are alternative structures of intersectionality, which show us how individuals create and shape the power structures we all live within.
I moved to London because the feminist movement here is very active. Being here keeps me up to date with feminism as a continuously developing theory, by attending lectures and having conversations with others involved in the movement. I go back and forth between Thailand and the United Kingdom as this helps me to understand the differences in how feminism can work in the social world. My art feels like it is something working in-between representing theory and action, something almost parallel, trying to push something progressive.
Kamolros Wonguthum, Closure, Ongoing, 2019, Writing on greenread paper (framed) and faux hair, 23 x 33cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Ariane Kupferman-Sutthavong.
Your exhibition Closure, Ongoing (2019) with Ariane Kupferman-Sutthavong offers a meta-commentary on the gendered structure of the Thai art scene. What are some changes you advocate?
To be realistic, I hope my art is able to achieve change in people’s perceptions. I think during the process of art-making, artists can see, access and create layers upon layers of connected meanings, forms and intentions. Artists can utilise the visual and communicate from one’s personal experience to another. Perception is often fallacious when it comes to feminine matters because of the stereotypical female domesticity in the working world and the art world, and the discrimination against female artists and feminist art.
The problematic knot of perception is how to move away from stereotypes. In my work, I hope to show resonances of perception as something that affects the self without perpetuating stereotypes. My priority is to address the autobiographical against objectification and to talk about our own subjectivity with acceptance and power, rather than allowing negativity to be subjectified. Autobiographical methods within art are often dismissed as something feminine and crass rather than something politically critical. In my early works, I focused on manipulation of autobiographical elements as a crucial act against this dismissal. In Closure, Ongoing (2019), I was inclined toward being raw and vulnerable to share my story in the Thai art scene because the power of storytelling has always been a significant tool in the collective dimension of feminist politics.
I hope to elevate perceptions of feminism by living it, absorbing it, and acknowledging its essence. Re-thinking feminist knowledge, deconstructing its problems and finding ways to advocate for the understanding of contemporary discourses in feminism have all been crucial in my journey.
Who has been a mentor or an important artistic influence? And why?
The first time I went to Berlin on my own during my undergraduate semester break, I saw the exhibition Jenny Jenny by Tobias Zielony at Berlinische Galerie. I was moved, because his work deepened my perspectives of artmaking emotionally and intellectually. His photography is not only masterful, but the subjects and narratives were handled thoughtfully throughout the exhibition. A year following that trip, I received a scholarship from the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg to attend his class. It was an intense period of time that I think has immensely shaped the fundamental processes in my art practice. I still apply his teachings in my use of imagery in my photography and other mediums I use, and in the way I create and control visual elements and things around the work.
What was one important piece of advice you were given?
I always recollect bits and bobs from conversations with people. Lately, I’ve been recalling advice I was given to always practice and develop my inner strength alongside my work.
Could you share your favourite art space or gallery in your country?
Ver Gallery in Bangkok and Arcadia Missa in London.
Kamolros Wonguthum, Work in process in my studio in Bangkok, 2021. Image courtesy of the artist and Ver Gallery.
What are your hopes for your own local art scene, and regionally as well?
It’s nice to see the Thai art scene growing and diversifying from its linear power structure. There are still many rooms to be filled, and that pliability makes anything possible.
BITE/HOLD/RELEASE (2019) at Supernormal, Desker Road. Image courtesy of the artist.
What are your hopes for your own local art scene, and regionally as well?
Continued sustainable growth and expansion, to cultivate an art literate public keen to engage with creative projects.