Phoenixe & Klein

After I left Silpakorn University, I stayed in touch with some of my former students. Phoenixe Nievera was one of them. We had already worked together outside the classroom, and a few years ago, when I invited her to create an installation alongside my work at Warehouse, she brought in her best friend, Klein, to collaborate with her.

Watching them work together, I was struck by their dynamic and how much they resembled each other. At first, I genuinely thought they were cousins. They’re not.

Phoenixe is Filipina, while Klein is half Thai and half Filipina, but there was also something in the way they dressed, moved and interacted that made them feel almost like two variations of the same person. That became the starting point for the shoot: exploring the closeness of their “best friends forever” relationship.

When I asked if they would join the project together, they quickly agreed. Phoenixe suggested Saphan Taksin, a neighbourhood we both knew well from our time at Silpakorn, close to our former campus and somewhere we often spent time outside university. I just let them lead the way.