Pitchapa Wangprasertkul

My first portrait session with Pitchapa took place at her apartment during Songkran. While I tried, and failed, to seduce Damian, her cat, who preferred hiding under a blanket, she told me how performance entered her life. In 2018, while studying advertising, she worked as a facilitator for the Marina Abramović Method at the Bangkok Art Biennale. The experience led her towards performance, first in art spaces and later in the street during the 2020 protests.

Those political performances created tension within her family and eventually contributed to her moving out. Her work continued through exhibitions and performances in Bangkok and abroad, including projects at BACC, Gallery VER, BIPAM and in Bali.

The first shoot left me wanting another setting, so we met again near her family home off Lan Luang Road, close to one of the areas associated with the 2020 protests. The neighbourhood was under renovation, with temporary walls and construction barriers creating an accidental maze of backdrops.

Alongside her art practice, Pitchapa has worked as a creative art director and graphic designer, using commercial work to support the less predictable rhythm of making art. At the time of our conversations, she was considering further fine-art study in Berlin.