WOMB
The Art of Fabric
Solo Exhibition by Mook Ploenchan Vinyaratn
June 26 - July 31, 2015
at Serindia Gallery
Mook’s debute solo collection of artworks, entitled WOMB: When Everything Changed Before Everything Changed, was inspired by her experiences, thoughts, emotions and imagery during the period when she was pregnant with triplet boys. Using appliqué and kilim weaving techniques over a span of one full year to produce, the 20 pieces of WOMB express the fun and sadness, joy and pain, laughter and tears experienced over her 34-week pregnancy.
Dream of the Unborn - Troy
Technique : Applique
Size : W 200 x H 300 cm
Normal 4D ultrasounds are monochromatic, but Mook has added the tones and hues she felt at the time. “Almost like thermal imaging, except coloring by emotions instead of heat.” On this visit to the doctor at 25 weeks. We were unable to capture a clear image of Trey, who was always turned away from the camera!
Dream of the Unborn - Trip
Technique : Applique
Size : W 200 x H 300 cm
The phenomenon of seeing faces in things is called pareidolia, and these two pieces capture that first visual quest for the still-unmet child. Eventually, the seemingly random patterns fall into place, and perceptible recognition crystallizes for the observer.
Troika Cradle
Technique : Applique
Size : W 65 x L 170 cm
The observer is invited to nestle into the hammock of this art object, to commune with the unborn trio, where the gentle swaying rhythm harkens to a timeless infant-soothing ritual as old as mankind itself. Look to the spine as a reference point.
This art object was created as a preview piece of WOMB by MOOKV for the design exhibition MANDARIN TURQUOISE by Jim Thompson, incorporating silk fabric from their textile collection.
Thumper
Technique : Applique
Size : W 100 x H 100 cm
“Back when it was just the two of us living in our cozy two bedroom flat, my husband and I would play a game where we would find shapes of animals and people in the pink marble of our shower. It was one of the small moments that made me feel like we were meant for each other. This piece is a kind of homage to that happy time, where the viewer may discover whatever they imagine in this colourised ultrasound.”
Masquerade
Technique : Applique
Size : W 100 x L 100 cm
Mook would see patterns similar to Chinese masks in the images, though the colors she assigns are not necessarily affixed to the traditional meaning (e.g. Red for courageous and prosperous, green for violent, blue for neutrality).
Trlumvlrl
Technique : Applique
Size : W 100 x H 100 cm
In rare instances, we would see all three of the fetuses at the same time, like planets or electrons in orbit perfectly aligned for fleeting moment here, frozen in time and textile.
Echo Rainbow
Technique : Applique
Size : W 120 x L 150 cm
As a designer, Mook’s choice of colours and their juxtapositions are not influenced by traditional colour theory, which she largely ignores in determining what shade complements which hue. For her, colours are complementary enough if they can be found co-existing in nature or dreams.
Sonshine
Technique : Mixed media
Size : W 130 x H 200 cm
The most labor intensive of the Womb series, Sonshine conveys the energy of light and sound with pendulous hand-beaded elements that suggest an oceanic swaying. The multicolored mélange is interrupted by a monochromatic alternation, a visual reminder of how all of us are ensnared by the never-ending procession of day and night, life and death.
Luna
Technique : Applique
Size : W 100 x L 200 cm
The root of Mook’s art can be found in applique technique, where she creates abstract interpretations of ordinary sketches, and adds dimension through cushioning e ects. Emergent forms are largely unintentional or subconscious, and often as much as of a surprise discovery for the artist as the viewer.
Trip
Technique : Kilim
Size : W 160 x H 50 cm
A major early milestone of pregnancy is the pitter patter of a tiny heart, rapidly pumping away and detectable around the second month. It’s not the deep thump-thump throbbing that we are used to. The baby’s heartbeat is rapid, like the shuttle of a weaving machine.
Trey
Technique : Kilim
Size : W 160 x H 50 cm
The waveform here is a visual representation of a sound, in this case, the heartbeat of the unborn child. “I would see my husband at his computer late at night editing these patterns into pre-recorded spots and jingles for the radio. Here he has edited this heartbeat into a continuous loop, while I interpreted the waveform through my design techniques, it became a collaborative effort, which is really like the essence of parenting.
Vertebrae
Technique : Mixed media
Size : W 160 x H 50 cm
The theory of evolution posits that man evolved from fish, and perhaps we see signs of this genetic heritage in utero, as in this depiction of sound and shape taken from an ultrasound examination at 16 weeks.
Synecdoche
Technique : Kilim
Size : W 100 x H 100 cm
The Whole For One Part
Technique : Kilim
Size : W 100 x H 100 cm
A Part for the Whole
Technique : Kilim
Size : W 100 x H 100 cm
Simultaneous Understanding
Technique : Kilim
Size : W 100 x H 100 cm
Since they were infants all the way to kindergarten, there will be someone who says something like, “How can you tell them apart? They all look the same.” Though these four pieces were inspired by the same source ultrasound image, they have developed differently over time and technique, branching out with different personalities and preferences, turning to different directions. Just as each of the boys’ names is derived from the number three (Trip from “Triple” in English, Trey from “Tres” in Latin, and Troy from “Troika” or “a group of three” in Russian.) The titles of all four pieces in this quartet also share the same meaning.