Born in Chiang Rai, Thailand, 1967
Lives and works in Chiang Rai, Thailand
Cocoon สัญชาตญาณแห่งชีวิต (Instinct), 2567/2024
Wood, steel, rock, sand, and silk thread
Dimension variable
Cocoon (Instinct) is something that has been part of life for a long time. Whether it is animals, insects or humans, all have instincts. Even though humans are more intellectually developed than other animals, Chata Maiwong, an artist from Chiang Rai who works with nature in terms of materials, concepts and methods, has realized the importance of instincts that surround us. Therefore, he created the work Cocoon: Instinct, which is displayed in the flower fields of Jim Thompson Farm. This piece was created with the existing wrought iron frame in the shape of a giant pumpkin. More than ten tall eucalyptus trees were added at the center, strung together with wires and decorated with a little woodwork, to create a large forest that covers the cocoon in the center, which is woven from iron wires and silk, like a cocoon that protects the larvae before it grows up. In the area near the eucalyptus forest and the silk cocoon, there are still some cocoons in various shapes placed around it, which are woven from iron frames and colorful silks. This piece of art seems to compare the differing instincts of humans and silkworms. If silkworms only use their instincts to produce nests, which are beautiful, why can’t humans create something more beautiful and valuable for the world than silkworms?
Chata Maiwong is an artist who learns the process of art by himself. Chata’s work often focuses on nature, especially old trees that have been cut and abandoned. They are often recreated by the artist to come back to life again, to become a work of art that is valuable in both goodness and beauty. The unequal length of wood, crooked lines, broken stems are all beautifully created by nature. Chata’s important work was featured at the Thailand Biennale Chiang Rai 2023 for which he displayed a tree that turned to the sky at Rai Chern Tawan Meditation Center in the name of Nirvana Muang Kaew.