Mom of Alterity
A solo exhibition by Wilawan Wiangthong
Curated by Worathep Akkabootara
Exhibition period: 13th January 2024 – 26th May 2024.
Opening reception: Saturday, 17th February 2024 from 6 p.m. onwards, and Mom of Alterity Performance: Chapter 3 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
MAIELIE, Khon Kaen
‘Mom of Alterity’ Performance Schedule
The performance will be separated into 7 chapters, with each chapter different from the last.The show will begin from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with limited seating for 30 guests per show.
Please reserve seats at https://forms.gle/Ftwrqyqkog9Y22uXA
Chapter 1: Saturday, 13th January 2024
Chapter 2: Saturday, 3rd February 2024
Chapter 3: Saturday, 17th February 2024
Chapter 4: Saturday, 2nd March 2024
Chapter 5: Saturday, 16th March 2024
Chapter 6: Saturday, 6th April 2024
Chapter 7: Saturday, 20th April 2024
Mom of Alterity is the first solo exhibition in Thailand by female artist Wilawan Wiangthong, at MAIELIE Khon Kaen. Wilawan possesses a work process that is highly versatile, including fieldwork in which she disguises herself as various forms (and shapes). The artist crafted a narrative through her meticulous observations of the areas surrounding Khon Kaen province, seeing the exploitation of land and cities alike for the sake of profits for both the state and private sector. The project illustrates the symbiotic relationship between the landscape, wildlife, flora, and other non-human entities, all of which have a crucial role to play in the process of communal evolution and production, creating environments that aren’t merely objects or background dressing as seen by the eye.
For this exhibition, Wilawan has chosen a form that exposes her naked body, symbolizing the numerous construction projects that continue endlessly. Her work is inspired by Japanese manga, video games, all the way to feminist interpretations of a ‘cyborg’, all working alongside the colloquial notion of “Mom of Alterity”, “Mother”, and “Mom”, referring to figures of authority, motherhood, and the concept of a ‘creator’. Meanwhile, the concept of ‘otherness’ is multiplied by the outward appearance, the otherness that the artist has clad herself in by mimicking the mannerisms of cows through machines, or the emulating of female cows spurred to motion through human hands. The altered form also arouses the artist to embrace sexual roles, exploring the hidden identities hidden deep within others, all of which possess a tangible and imagined aspect.
The artist has collected a diverse collection of media and materials, weaving them together to produce works and household objects from the waste materials provided by the environment of each location she visited. The results are sculptures created from animal dung, bones, molted snakeskin from a farm, all the way to common garbage. Furthermore, Wilawan also directed a performance against a backdrop inspired by science-fiction, as well as a photography and moving image collection that presents the moment of first contact between different species who have traversed wildly different times and spaces, rousing the imagination with the story of a group of scientists who return to earth to find the dark future of a distant era.