The Thai artist’s third solo exhibition is on display at River City Bangkok until March 19, 2023

“A blue, oblong swimming pool…

To an inexperienced swimmer like myself,

the dimensions of this expanse seem as vast as the sea.

The bright sunlight scorches my eyes.

My heart pounds without rest.

All I can do is await the hour of my trial.”

–        Phannapast Taychamaythakool

Leading digital artist Phannapast “Yoon” Taychamaythakool has captured the imagination of art enthusiasts with her third solo exhibition, “The Endless Swimming Pool”, currently on display at the RCB Photographer’s Gallery 2, on the second floor of River City Bangkok. 

This exhibition is a journey deep into the psyche of the artist, who uses a swimming pool as a metaphor for her Jungian delineation between the conscious and unconscious mind—signified by the quote: ”Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

She describes her fear of the swimming pool in the above manifesto almost as akin to Judgement Day. The most telling part of the exhibition is perhaps the entrance, shaped like a vagina, where viewers are expected to revert their existence and go back to the very essence of humanity as they move inside the darkened, womblike gallery.

Here you find a playground of surreal imagery—drawings, digital animation, as well as sculptures in motion around a cosmic circle—incorporating a kaleidoscopic of symbols ranging from religious and cultural to mythological, which is typical Phannapast. It’s no surprise that this fashion design graduate whose Instagram page caught the eye of such international luxury brands as Gucci, for whom she has now collaborated on several collections with her whimsical fantasy drawings.

Following her journey of self-discovery from her first two solo exhibitions, Phannapast delves into a deeper dimension that has revealed a new chapter of creative exploration, psychological questing, beliefs, and myths. In each work, she addresses her ego, her fears and desires, and rather than suffer, she seems to have discovered the juxtaposition between these discordant emotions, and learned how to thrive.

For the piece “My Soul My Soul”, she describes:

My glasshouse with a window lies underneath the Universe.

I sit in the garden of my soul, and look at the Roses of Ego.

They are overgrown, fertilized by my fears and desires.

Their thorns protect me from the outside, but hurt me too.

I won’t cut the roses yet. I will handle them with care instead.

I will wait to see them grow taller and taller.

They will grow through the window, and brush against the Universe.

In this universe, we all live at the cross-currents of dream and reality, she seems to say. In fact, humanity has been whirling around this endless pool since antiquity. You can either go with the flow, or sink trying to fight it.

“The Endless Swimming Pool” is on until March 19, 2023 at River City Bangkok’s RCB Photographers’ Gallery 2.

For more information, visit rivercitybangkok.com.