Sareena Sattapon, When you find you in the middle of emptiness

Dates｜ July 5 – August 2, 2025 (closed on Sundays & Mondays)

Opening Reception | July 5, 2025 5-7pm

√K Contemporary is pleased to present When you find you in the middle of emptiness, a solo exhibition by emerging Thai artist Sareena Sattapon, on view from July 5 to August 2, 2025.

Sattapon, a rising voice in contemporary art, was born into a minority ethnic group in Thailand. After earning her Master’s degree at Silpakorn University in Bangkok, she completed a Ph.D. in Global Art Practice at Tokyo University of the Arts in spring 2025. Garnering attention from early in her career, Sattapon has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Grand Prize at the CAF Award 2022, the Second Prize at the Tokyo Midtown Award 2024, and the Nomura Art Award, among others.

Her work confronts the invisible structures of modern life—highlighting themes such as human connection, social isolation, disparity, and the boundaries between self and other. Employing diverse media such as performance, installation, photography, and painting, Sattapon powerfully visualizes what society often chooses to overlook. Her artistic practice is grounded in a desire to challenge inequality and to advocate for the pursuit of shared happiness and understanding.

This exhibition marks a significant turning point for the artist. Following the completion of her doctoral studies and years of living and working in Japan, Sattapon takes a reflective pause—one that signals both closure and new beginnings. Her latest series, titled When you find you, offers a softer, more introspective departure from her earlier work. Warm and enveloping, these new pieces invite the viewer into a meditative space—one that emphasizes the quiet power of stillness.

In a world driven by relentless progress and constant motion, Sattapon encourages viewers to embrace the necessity of rest and reflection. “Stopping, even briefly, can be an act of resistance—and of renewal,” she states. This exhibition serves as a gentle yet profound reminder of the importance of pausing, reorienting, and reconnecting with oneself.

The exhibition will showcase a wide range of works, including paintings, photographs, video, and installation, both new and past.

A special meditation event with a sound therapist will also be held on Saturday, July 26 during the exhibition period.

We invite you to experience this milestone solo exhibition by Sareena Sattapon—an artist whose thoughtful and socially engaged practice continues to resonate both in Japan and internationally.

| Artist Statement |

When you find you
In the middle of emptiness

We fight. We strive. We labor. We believe. We survive.
All this motion, all this noise.
Was it ever the point?
Maybe life was never about the climb but about the quiet in between.
Perhaps all we ever needed was simply… to breathe.

Throughout my journey as an artist, I have spent most of my time contemplating.
I think about the lives of people, society, the world, nature, and the complex relationships between all of these. I move through my thoughts, beliefs, and my own quiet struggles, hoping that art will benefit others and help make this world a better place.

Intensive conceptual work, combined with continuous efforts to develop processes and techniques, has gradually made me neglect my inner voice and forget the peace and joy that come from creating art.

‘When you find you in the middle of emptiness’ is a space where we all can pause and breathe. I stepped away from the social critique I once engaged in, turning instead to self-reflection, revisiting old memories in order to better understand and live within the present. This exhibition brings together my new and past works, to show the evolution of my artistic journey.

The new series When you find you (2025) becomes a raw and unfiltered landscape of memory, not only the ones we readily recall but also those long sealed behind inner walls. Ultimately, this process of looking inward may become a small staircase that brings us closer to the peace we are quietly searching for.

－　Sareena Sattapon