INFO
| Name | Sorawit Songsataya (they/them) |
| Country of Birth | Thailand |
| Place of Residence | Thailand, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Ethnicities | Thai |
| Artform | Visual arts |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Sorawit Songsataya is a visual artist currently based between Aotearoa and Thailand.
Songsataya’s practice is detailed and explorative, delving into the chemical composition of their subjects, their geographical and cultural significance, and their materiality and symbolism. They remain open and fluid in their approach to form, exploring mediums like sculpture, textiles, video, 3D animation, and 3D printing throughout their practice - never being limited to one artistic format. As Songsatya has explained, “I use gallery space as a testing lab or learning space”, which is shown through their multidisciplinary approach to their installations.
Songsataya was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand and moved to Aotearoa in their early teenage years, spending most of their time in Tāmaki Makaurau. In 2010 they completed their Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication from Unitec Institute of Technology, followed by a Master of Fine Arts at Elam School of Fine Art in 2013. They try to find connecting links, building a pathway between the cultural and natural environments in Aotearoa and that of their homeland, drawing on a practice that is heavily process-based and spans a wide artistic skill set. Using computer programmes to create many elements of their artwork, they explain that “[technology] is everywhere, from conceptualisation to the process of making, to presentation.”
Though much of their practice crosses between science and humanity, much of their earlier practice integrated more playful elements, like their exhibition Bronies which was shown at Te Tuhi (2016) — ‘Bronies’ is a term given to adult fans of My Little Pony, which originated on a 4chan bulletin board — or Good Kisser, a pair of 3D printed vases that won the National Contemporary Art Award in 2016. Both objects had outstretched lips and closed eyes, facing each other as if they were about to kiss. On the back of the vases were images of two My Little Pony characters, also kissing. The judge for that year’s prize, Misal Adnan Yıldız stated that the piece poses the question that “In the age of post-media-war, global terrorism, and everyday crisis, he is generously animating a confrontational and psychoanalytical question: Are you a good kisser?”
In 2019, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki commissioned Songsataya to create an installation for the gallery’s outdoor terrace. Titled The Interior, the work captured the cyclic nature of death. Songsataya used fibreglass and limestone to create sculptures of several live and extinct Aotearoa birds. Their choice of using limestone, which is partially made up of the compressed skeletal remains of deceased forams (minuscule plankton-like sea creatures), echoes their exploration of death as a transformative phenomenon.
They continued their study of limestone during the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at The University of Otago, which they were awarded in 2022. During this residency, they focused on the ecology of Ōamaru Limestone and schist outcrops — a type of metamorphic rock found in Central Otago. This research culminated in the exhibition Nirun, held at the Hocken Gallery in 2023. Nirun, like many of Songsataya’s exhibitions, had several elements. The video works focused on kōtuku, or the white heron, and the outcrops of schist and Ōamaru limestone that exist in the region. The pillar-like sculptures made from Ōamaru limestone, plant matter, shells, beeswax, and resin reference the architecture of ancient Thai temples. The exhibition also included digital prints and animations that mapped several landscapes. Throughout the process, they worked in consultation with mana whenua and they describe this exhibition as a way to give back to the community within the region whose land they were given permission to work on and explore.
In 2023 Songsataya was awarded the seventh residency at Gasworks in London, where they developed a project that centred voice recordings with New Zealand and Thai immigrants in London. The sculptural elements were influenced by these recordings and by sounds, which they weave into a physical object along with 3D animation. For this project, they explain that “I try to understand voice and sound as something that is very textural, very fibrous. I’m trying to really see sound.” They used this opportunity to “connect and to better understand unique stories and perspectives of New Zealand and Thai immigrants outside the Asia-Pacific region.”
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2023 — Nirun, Hocken Library, Ōtepoti
2022 — Stilt House, Robert Heald, Pōneke
2022 — Homefire, Paludal Art Gallery, Ōtautahi
2021 — Heavy trees, arms and legs, The Suter Art Gallery, Whakatū
2020 — Secrets and Lies, SCAPE Public Art, Ōtautahi
2020 — Bronies, Te Tuhi, Tāmaki Makaurau
2020 — Rumours (Mermaid), Govett-Brewster Gallery, Ngāmotu
2019 —The Interior, Auckland Art Gallery Sculpture Terrace, Tāmaki Makaurau
2019 — Offspring of Rain, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Pōneke
2019 — Jupiter, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau
2018 — Step-sister, Mikro Gallery, Zürich
2018 — Starling, Artspace Aotearoa, Tāmaki Makaurau
2014 — Campaign Furniture [group exhibition curated by Henry Davidson], Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Ōtepoti
Key awards
2023 — Gasworks residency, London
2022 — Frances Hodgkins Fellowship, Ōtepoti
2020 — Digital Artist Residency, Massey University, Te Papa-i-Oea
2020 — Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Artist in Residence, Ngāmotu
2020 — Molly Morpeth Canaday Trust Major Award
2019 — Enjoy Summer Residency, Rita Angus Cottage, Pōneke
2018 — Iaspis Studio Residency, Stockholm
2018 — Parehuia McCahon House Artists’ Residency, Tāmaki Makaurau
2016 — National Contemporary Art Award
