Born 1973, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Lives and works in Chiang Mai

Som Supaparinya has developed a unique form of video-making that blends documentary and experimental methods, commonly involving intensive filming on location. Through her work, she points to the plights written out of mainstream history and weaves together the complexity of peoples, cultures, ethnicities and beliefs that have shaped modern Thailand. In Collapsing clouds form stars, Supaparinya pays homage to the brave, ordinary, and politically threatened people who have led Thai resistance movements throughout recent history.

To create the work, Supaparinya travelled around the country researching and navigating often unassuming sites where historical conflicts and uprisings occurred. Building a repository of time-lapse still images, she has captured these sites in their present form, drawing a connection between the spirit of past rebellion and the power struggles of today. The concept and form of the work was developed around the idea of clusters of stars and the formation of clouds; a metaphor for the gatherings and departures of the people who shape places and histories.