Apichaya Wanthiang

Throughout Apichaya (Piya) Wanthiang’s (b. 1987, Bangkok, Thailand) practice, she constructs environments to study how they influence our perceptions, behaviours, and interactions. She works with various media, including painting, installations, architecture, video, sound, and motion. Wanthiang pays particular attention to the landscapes we inhabit, the material, textural, atmospheric, and weather conditions that shape our existence, and the narratives we share and how we choose to (re)tell them.

In her paintings, she often uses thin, fast-drying acrylic paint, creating surfaces that appear almost washed out and unexpectedly dry. She paints motifs as if they are floating on the canvas and depicts vegetation as if anthropomorphized, with motion swirling through the layers of paint. Bold and lively strokes of paint are evident through the painted landscapes, with moistened or cracked surfaces. Breaking through Wanthiang’s dynamic brushstrokes are the straight lines of simple structures, which somewhat coarsen her motifs—defined yet full of movement and vibrancy.

The humid landscapes often depicted in her paintings depicted display strange elements, as if things lurk beneath the transparent yet opaque surfaces. In some of her paintings, viewers can nearly discern human-like figures, often without details like facial features or clothing. Instead, they appear as outlines or silhouettes, evoking after-images or presences past. Wanthiang seeks to find a painterly language for something inherently fluid, affective, and fugitive, always trying to escape a singular interpretation.

In 2022, Wanthiang was selected to exhibit at the Munch Museum in Oslo for SOLO OSLO, a series of solo exhibitions presented in collaboration with Talent Norge and Canica. Wanthiang’s installation at the Munch Museum explores how the body regulates emotions through breathing exercises and meditation, aiming to evoke memories that enable both exorcism and empathy. Drawing on her research into trauma, Wanthiang compares the experience of her installation to entering a body. She investigates how physical sensations transmit between bodies without language, suggesting that skin acts as a communicative membrane rather than a boundary. The exhibition space features two atmospheres created by sculptures dressed in colored agar—a substance derived from algae native to the Indian Ocean—and pre-programmed lighting that influences levels of stress and calm in viewers.

The project presented a towering structure—an immersive environment featuring sculptures and a soundtrack of chanting female voices and breathing exercises. The space, with its textiles stretched over steel frames and rhythmic light pulses, transforms into a serene cavern with a ritualistic quality. The installation evolves through shifts in light rhythm and sound, illustrating mood changes without a central focus.

Apichaya (Piya) Wanthiang (b. 1987, Bangkok, Thailand) holds a BA from Sint-Lukas, Brussels, and an MA in Fine Arts from Bergen Academy of Art and Design (KHiB). Through a range of mediums and approaches, she constructs environments to explore how they influence our perceptions, behaviors, and interactions. Wanthiang has had recent solo exhibitions at the Munch Museum, Kristiansand Kunsthall, Hordaland Kunstsenter, among others, and she has an upcoming presentation at the Vigeland Museum in Oslo.

Wanthiang has worked as an Assistant Professor at Trondheim Academy of Fine Art and the Faculty of Fine Art, Music, and Design (KMD) in Bergen. She has served on the board of LNM, the Norwegian Painters Association, and UKS, The Young Artists’ Society. Her work is part of several collections, including the Grieg Foundation, Oslo Kommunes Kunstsamling, Sogn og Fjordane Kunstmuseum, and Kistefos Museum. She currently lives and works in Oslo, Norway.