The Artists in Residence Program
“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.”
Francis Bacon
The Artists in Residence Program invites artists to create art and conduct workshops for visitors and the local community. For the opening of Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden, several internationally acclaimed artists have been invited to participate as the first members of the Artists in Residence Program:
Etienne Fouchet (1981)
is a French artist specialising in sculpture. Material is the most important aspect of his works. The story is told through the material, and water is an important inspiration. “Guided by the material he uses, he creates a vocabulary of shapes and textures inspired by natural or artificial spaces.”
In September 2017 Etienne Fouchet realized a sculpture at Pha Tad Ke entitled “Stumbling Rooms”
Krijn de Koning (1963)
is a Dutch artist who creates site-specific work that questions the specific characteristics of a place. In a specific setting, de Koning adds or “interrupts the environment with colorful architectural and sculptural constructions. A work emphasizes the environment and gives the audience new ways to interpret a place.”
Erik Samakh (1959)
is a French artist who utilises elements in nature to create exhibitions that intersect nature and art. Some of the materials used by Professor Samakh include birds, light, recorded sounds, sculpture, and water. “He describes himself as a ‘hunter-gatherer’ of images and sounds that he has ‘captured’ or recorded and exhibited for over 25 years” to create site-specific work that focuses on dialogues between man and nature.
herman de vries (1931)
is a dutch artist living in germany with training in horticulture and science. his works involve collecting, cataloguing, and curating objects found in nature such as flowers, leaves, twigs, and stones. he also uses photography, works on paper, and sculpture to explore the relationships between culture and nature. some of his latest works explores the theme that human existence takes many different paths.
in october 2018 herman de vries donated two pieces that have been realized in-situ at pha tad ke.
Dana Wyse (1965)
Canadian writer in residence at Pha Tad Ke since February 2019. – we will be back. xo
