Songkhla-ni
A mixed-media solo exhibition by Pi-near, created from a month-long onsite research and drawing residency in Songkhla Old Town during June 2025. The project began with a personal journey in which the artist immersed herself in the rhythms of everyday life—quiet mornings, afternoon sea breeze, and intimate conversations with local residents. These encounters gradually shaped a body of work that reflects both the cultural layers of the city and the artist’s own process of growth.

The exhibition features over 50 live watercolour portraits and location observational sketches, field notes, hand-bound books, small-format photographs, ceramic figurines, and a short documentary video. Each piece documents the relationships, memories, and knowledge exchanged during her time in the city.

Beyond presenting her own observations, Pi-near collaborated with local creatives and craftspeople: a traditional book-repair shop that helped bind her writings by hand; Simogce’Studio from Chana for ceramic pieces; and Lunaray, a dessert atelier from Hat Yai, which interpreted four of her artworks into pastries using local ingredients for the exhibition’s opening day. A community workshop with local floral artists Fake Florist and Ruedo Studio invited participants to create pressed-flower bookmarks inspired by the exhibition.

“Songkhla-ni” serves as both an artistic archive and a personal diary. It captures the artist’s coming-of-age through place-based research, storytelling, and meaningful exchanges with the people of Songkhla—transforming a short visit into a significant chapter of her creative and personal development.

photo credits: Phutawan S.

Live Watercolour Portraits
Community Studies & Observational Sketches

A series of over 50 live watercolour paintings created directly on-site with the people and places of Songkhla Old Town. Each piece emerged from conversations, quiet observations, and time spent sitting with local residents.

The works function both as visual diaries and as place-based research, capturing fleeting moments, everyday rhythms, and the subtle emotional atmosphere of the city.

Ceramic Pieces
This series of ceramic figurines is inspired by a personal encounter during the artist’s month-long stay in Songkhla. One afternoon, while cycling on her familiar green bicycle toward the iconic Naga Head statue, she was suddenly “welcomed” by a local pack of four–legged residents—dogs that chased and barked at her in the narrow Pine Lane (Soi Pa Son).

This humorous yet memorable moment became the seed for a small installation of hand-sculpted ceramic characters. The pieces capture the spontaneity, playfulness, and slight chaos of the incident, transforming an everyday experience into a tangible narrative object.

in collaboration with Simogce’Studio in Chana

Hand-Bound Zine

A hand-bound artist zine compiling field notes, drawings, and personal reflections from the month of June spent in Songkhla.
The book was produced in collaboration with a traditional local book-repair shop “Hin-Si-Cream”, making each copy a meaningful artifact that blends mixed-media practice with local craftsmanship. It stands as a record of both artistic process and cultural exchange.

100 Photos

A collection of 100 small-format photographs captured with the artist’s pocket-sized camera, documenting a visual timeline from the first day to the last of her stay in Songkhla.

Because the camera was small and always with her, the photographs feel unfiltered and spontaneous, offering a candid record of how the artist observed and moved through the city.

Together, the 100 photos function as a gentle chronology of presence, mapping the emotional landscape of the month and revealing how the artist’s relationship with Songkhla deepened over time.

Video Installation: “Songkhla-ni”

Duration: 9 minutes 09 seconds

This short documentary captures the quiet rhythms, everyday encounters, and small discoveries that shaped the artist’s month in Songkhla Old Town. The footage was recorded using Pi-near’s small pocket camera, which allowed her to film intimately and unobtrusively while moving through the city on foot and by bicycle

The video weaves together morning light over the old streets, conversations with local residents, moments of solitude, and scenes from workshops and drawing sessions. It functions as a visual diary, echoing the project’s themes of observation, learning, and personal growth through place-based immersion.

co-direct with karma_in_this_case