Resonant Abstractions: A Conversation with D-jai Kosiyabong
Exploring language, memory, and art after her solo exhibition 'Resonant Abstractions' at SAC Gallery.
D-jai Kosiyabong, The beginning of Us. Credits: SAC Gallery
I had the pleasure of speaking with D-jai Kosiyabong following the opening of her solo exhibition Resonant Abstractions at SAC Gallery on April 3rd. In her work, Kosiyabong explores themes of language, memory, and nostalgia, through a linguistic practice that pushes her research to the edge of synesthesia.
Q: Thank you for joining, D-jai, it's very nice to have you here. I would like to talk to you about the recent exhibition at the SAC Gallery, Resonant Abstractions. But before that, I would like to start by hearing from you a little bit about yourself, about your journey into the art world—like, when did you realize you wanted to be an artist? And I know you studied in New York, so having a bit of an overview of how you got to this point.
A: Well, I started off doing photography. I went to Pratt for four years, did photography there, and then I think during my thesis I was doing work on me and my grandmother. My grandmother has Alzheimer's, so I went back and I took care of her for a year during Covid. And because of that, I found sort of different ways in which we could do activities together. And as I was living with her, her memory degenerated a lot. And the one thing that we had in common was finger painting, which is where I transitioned from photography to painting. Because as we finger painted, I realized that she could remember certain things. And that was really interesting for me because I sort of delved into this whole rabbit hole about how memory and tactile memory and painting are so intertwined. So from there, we painted several pieces together and I never stopped. So that’s pretty much how I got into painting. In terms of photography and my background in that, I did a couple shows. Those works are also about memory because they were centered around my grandmother actually. She has been the crux of everything I’ve been doing. I think the relationship between me and her—seeing her essentially sort of regress being more of a child—is really interesting for me. And the idea of degradation of memory, of the self, language particularly, is really interesting.
Q: The idea of the degradation of memory of the self is also in part connected with an element of nostalgia. So some kind of longing for the past or like some bittersweet memory. You create artworks that have kind of a joyful component. I was wondering if for you, the artistic process and the role of art was also dealing with feelings and transforming them.
A: Yes, definitely. I think specifically with this body of work, the underlying foundation of it is based on memory, and we can go into the process of it a little. I am someone that, when I hear things, I associate colors to it, and it’s been happening since I was very young. So auditory and sense and visual have always been very intertwined and interlaced with each other. The work starts off with anchoring myself within a specific memory that I have and listening to the sounds that I have within that memory. Seeing what colors I associate with those sounds and then transcribing that essentially onto canvas. From there, I transcribe that back into MIDI, the logic program that I have, and turn it back into the auditory sound that I hear in my head.
D-jai Kosiyabong, A Leap of Faith. Credits: SAC Gallery
Q: You work with language and you question how it’s something coming from society and forcing us to communicate in a predetermined way. With your work you aim at defining your own language, but in the process, you realize that even the colors have been codified by someone before, like red is associated with anger and so on... So, how was it for you dealing with that? Was it more frustrating, the relationship with these codes, or was it more interesting to try to find your own way to get out of this cage?
A: I felt it was extremely frustrating because, you know, I started this journey, this quest to answer the question of whether we can have language without bias. And I think the more I researched, the more I experimented, I realized it’s futile to even try to attempt to answer it because the way that we think and process things, we already use language to process it. There’s no, at least none that I can think of right now, a process in which we can eliminate bias. I tried that with color, and that in itself had so many limitations. Like you said, we have bias with every single thing that we associate color with, so I was extremely frustrated. And so I think that’s why the work came out the way it did. I tried to not provide any sort of context to sort of emulate that experience as much as I can. But I know that within that, there are so many limitations that I haven't addressed or experimented on. I think there are so many other limitations that need to be addressed.
Q: From the art perspective there are different artists that work with language, Bruce Nauman, for example.
A: Oh, I love him.
Q: Were there some artists that you felt influenced you in this research?
A: Conceptually, Bruce Nauman was incredibly helpful. I also looked into a lot of Russian Suprematism, so Malevich’s work I really enjoy. And then also, I was looking into more of Joseph Albers for his color theory and the way he uses color, but I think that was a huge influence on my work. I think that without him, our understanding of color right now would be incomplete. I think he’s so important to not only art history, but history itself. Because I think by understanding color, by understanding the words to describe color, we’re understanding also our perception of the world. Also, another one that I really enjoy, I look at a lot of photographers as well, because I think that although, yes, it’s a different medium, I think photography and the way that we read things visually is really important. So a lot of work by Larry Sultan, a lot of work by Garry Winogrand, and things like that helped me. I read a lot as well. Lacan was really important.
Q: Which aspects of Lacan?
A: The mirror, the symbol, and the object. How we conceptualize the language into our head, the physical picture of it, the symbol of it, and how that affects the way that we communicate and process the world. I think that’s really interesting. The way that shapes can sort of, um, influence how we feel about something. The picture that we have in our head is really interesting.
D-jai Kosiyabong, Contemplation. Credits: SAC Gallery
Q: So with your work, are you trying to create new linguistic symbols?
A: Yes, essentially. For him, I thought about—because his work was a lot about the symbol—and I then thought in terms of, well, if we were to take the context and the bias out of the alphabet, it would essentially be lines. So why can we not apply the same principles to color or other things? That’s why I started with blocks first. The idea of the rectangle itself—also, I was reading Lacan about this—the rectangle is a very stationary object. And when you read it, there’s no sinuous curves or fluidity, so it sort of reads like a letter, if you know what I mean. It’s one object to the next. That’s the reason why they’re all rectangles, or different sizes—there’s no circles or triangles or anything. I wanted everything to be very structural, like you said.
Q: How much is one painting connected to the audio, and how much does it have its own individual life, in your perspective?
A: I think they’re both. Auditory is literally the translation of the visual, so they’re very much connected. If you were to take all the colors of one painting and line them up into a single row, it would be an exact replication of the sound. And I did that quite purposefully. I gridded everything and then I did the math so that it would actually be a perfect fit. If someone came up to me and said, “Oh, you’re just making this up,” I could show them—down to the T—that it’s all real. You know what I mean?
D-jai Kosiyabong, I Love You. Credits: SAC Gallery
Q: Did someone actually say it wasn’t true?
A: Yes! And so I showed them. I said, “If you want to see, I can show you the file.” And they were like, “Oh… you actually really thought about this.” And I said, “Yes. It took a while.”
Q: How was it for you coming back to Bangkok after having spent all that time abroad?
A: I recognize that I’m already somewhat in the scene, and that’s a privilege in itself, so I can only speak from that perspective. I think entering it—with galleries like SAC, ATT19, and many others—they actually do give opportunities to emerging artists. I think the scene is really friendly, and it's not as scary or intimidating as one might think when viewing it from the outside, because it’s still relatively new.
Q: And how was the show at SAC? It opened on the 3rd of April, right?
A: Yes. It was my first one, so I was extremely nervous—really excited, but very, very nervous. I've always been rather insular in the way I work, so I hadn’t had much outside perspective besides the curator, Miranda, and the owner of the gallery. But it turned out to be quite good because I was able to hear different perspectives and I loved hearing all of that. It was really helpful.
D-jai Kosiyabong, Polymorphic Lexicon. Credits: SAC Gallery
Q: Do you still work with photography? Or is that a closed chapter in your artistic practice?
A: I still do. My grandmother—I’m still actually shooting that body of work with her. It’s something that will probably continue, especially as I continue to take care of her and spend time with her. I’m not sure if I plan to show it yet—I’m still thinking about that. But yes, it’s still ongoing on the side. Um, and also—I’m developing a children’s program for the arts in Thailand as well. I’m very excited about that, actually.
Q: Can you share more about that?
A: Yes, I’d love to. Last year, I started thinking about how, even though the art scene in Thailand is booming and it’s a really exciting space, there’s still room to push it further—especially in terms of arts education. I think that’s an area that really needs support. I believe it’s important to introduce the language of art from a very young age—so that we could sort of help children grow up and view art, look at art, and give them the tools to do so. And because of that, I’m developing a program where, in museums, I create this activity booklet that’s based in research but also children-friendly and interactive, and it encourages a kind of discourse between the child and the parent. I did one last year at the National Gallery, and I’m doing another one for my upcoming show next month. And then I have another one up right now at the Museum Pier.
Q: Okay, good luck with that! I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops. And with this, I’d like to thank you for joining me for this brief interview and our chat.
A: Thank you so much.
About the Artist
D-Jai Kosiyabong (b. 1998, Bangkok) is a visual artist currently living and working in Bangkok, Thailand. She holds a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Her work has been featured in exhibitions internationally, including Being Human | Human Being in Copenhagen and It’s Not Me. It’s My Image in Brooklyn. Her works are held in private collections across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
D-jai Kosiyabong. Credits: SAC Gallery
Resonant Abstractions is on view at SAC Gallery in Bangkok until May 31.
For more info about SAC Gallery and other Bangkok galleries and art institutions, check our Exhibitions section.