Thailand Found

In 2024, I spent several months in Thailand—first in January and February, then again in September—immersing myself in the textile communities of Chiang Mai and the northern regions. I arrived knowing no one, taking a risk guided only by instinct and a desire to reconnect with the origins of material. Through craft fairs, studio visits, and countless conversations, I found mentors who profoundly reshaped my practice and the way I understand textile culture.

In Chiang Mai, I apprenticed with Thitichai at Fai Sor Kam, learning natural dyeing from the ground up. Working with plants, minerals, and slow processes opened an entirely new sensibility for me. Colour was no longer just surface—it became a living extension of ecology, season, and touch. This shifted my relationship with materials and grounded my design approach in a deeper respect for nature.

A chance encounter with Daw Khun Shwe from Myanmar became another turning point. She introduced me to Chin textile traditions and generously mentored me in exhibition thinking—how to structure a narrative, how to let materials speak, how to guide an audience’s attention. Together, we organised a small garden exhibition for the studio’s students, an experience that strengthened my confidence and clarified my voice as a maker.

In Doi Dao, artist and community leader Sathu Bank hosted me in his studio, where I witnessed how collective work sustains both creativity and livelihood. His commitment to tradition, spirituality, and land-rooted practices—walking barefoot year-round to stay connected to the earth—showed me a different model of artistic life. From him, I learned how belief and design can coexist, and how craft can be a way of living rather than merely producing.

Before arriving in Thailand, I felt held by tradition yet somehow incomplete. This journey connected the missing pieces. By weaving my own heritage with theirs, I emerged with a strengthened design identity—one that honours nature, embodies cultural exchange, and recognises craft as both a practice and a way of being.