Gilding
Performed at Bangkok Kunsthalle, June 2025
Curated by Oat Montien, Rosalia Namsai Engchuan
Gilding and mummification process created in collaboration with Ione Wang
Inspired by Thai rituals of gilding Buddha statues with gold leaf as acts of devotion, and the mummification of Chinese monks in gold, Gilding II is a blessing ritual for the living queer and trans body.
Audiences are invited to apply gold leaf directly onto my skin. Once my whole body is covered I am mummified, the gold congealing into a second skin. Carried into an adjacent room, I reemerge from this state and enter a slow, visceral choreography—weighted, trance-like, and shifting in bursts—leaving traces of gold in the space and upon those I encounter.
Photos: Parawis Jiamchaotpattanakul, Krittawat Atthsis, Puttisin Choojesroom