Photography by Jasper Kettner
Som Supaparinya was raised in Lamphun, lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Studied Fine Arts at Chiang Mai University. After graduation, she went to study Media Arts at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, Germany. She is a pioneer in multichannel (4-ch in 1995) and synchronization video installation (2012) in her region. She created her first video and sound arts in 1995 with cassette recorders, Handycam Video 8, and VHS cameras. However, her works encompass a wide variety of mediums such as installation, created and found objects, still and moving images which have produced mainly with a documentarian and experimentarian approach. The works focus on the impact of human activities on other humans and landscape through political, historical, and literary lenses. The changing landscape by various means motivated her practice. Her works are stories on noodles cultures, the change of the riverscapes, cityscapes, routes, electricity generation, resistance sites and banned books.
Recent exhibitions: Collapsing Clouds Form Stars, a Mini Retrospective of Work by Som Supaparinya (Ver Gallery, Bangkok, 2025). The Shattered Worlds: Micro Narratives from the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the Great Steppe (BACC, Bangkok, April-July 2025), The River They Don’t See (Kestner Gesellschaft, 2025), Sea Art Festival (Busan, 2025), Video Art Festival (Busan, 2025), and mo num en ts รู ป ระ ลึก, a solo show, Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, Thailand.
Bio and profile picture courtesy of the artist.
Writing:
“Som Supaparinya Exposes How Power Manifests Through Censorship,” Exhibition Reviews, January 13, 2026, frieze.