Supermodern Romance

Upon entering the UAL Studios space, visitors first hear the sound of a horn, blowing and beckoning, accompanied by the short decisive beats of a drum.

Drawing closer, visitors can sneak a peek of the show through the room’s glass windows. The first work visitors encounter is Waterloo Station (2024), the only displayed moving image work.

Flickering between video footage, bold text and photography, the film traces Narisara’s investigation of Waterloo Station. Two frames appear—“DON’T MAKE EYE CONTACT”, “WALK FAST”. The film’s music then transitions from frenzied percussion and brass to a softer, dramatic wind orchestra. Scenes of intimate moments play across the screen such as women hugging and a person arriving to meet someone already waiting for them.

As visitors turn to view the rest of the show, the film loops itself, resonating through the exhibition space.

Around the corner, a selected series of Narisara’s photography and risograph prints are dotted across the wall and a horizontal mirror. As if time stood still, the prints capture the ever-moving crowds and the hustle and bustle of Waterloo Station.

Lining the rest of the wall, Narisara’s photo etchings and etchings sit in contrast in stark black and white. Visitors reencounter a few familiar scenes, now presented in a new medium with carefully carved details, bringing a new focus to these moments of connection between loved ones and strangers.

On the furthest wall of the room, are three larger works of etching and lithography, and a small collage of five small etchings. Small, beautiful (2024) stands out by taking a more abstract form and consisting of more than one scene.

Representing the cycle of life, a small frame depicts a parent’s hands gently holding their baby’s and the other depicts the lower body of an elderly couple waiting next to each other. To me, it shows how seemingly mundane and everyday non-places gently hold multiple generations of memories in the same space.

The lithography work, Moving forward with each other (2024), stands in the furthest corner of the room. On the raw-edged paper, viewers can see the pressure of both Narisara’s meticulous hand and the stone the image was drawn on. Through the time-consuming processing of etching and lithography, Narisara had taken the transient moments she captured, slowed them down, and memorialised them in new touchable forms.

Finally, a single framed work, Connection within a disconnected place (2024), sits proudly on the pillar in the centre of the room. A presentation of Narisara’s background in illustration, it is a collage of different moments brought together to form a narrative of human connection despite the conditions of a non-place. Its composition reminds me of a polaroid captured in a few seconds, but with time, develops to reveal the true picture.

As a whole, the exhibition layout traces Narisara’s committed and ritualistic process of repeatedly producing the same images in multiple mediums, transitioning from the relatively quicker digital methods of photography and risograph printing, to slower, handmade and physical methods of photo etching, etching and lithography.

Through this process, Narisara created a body of work that sits between fine art and illustration by expressing different ways of seeing and giving time and attention to the ephemeral moments she captured. This romance, in her content and methodology, was important for me to communicate as the curator of the show.

In our building of the atmosphere, the design of the show and the communication of Narisara’s work, we hoped to leave visitors with a soft feeling. Supermodern Romance did not aim to change anyone’s perspective of their world, but to allow visitors to momentarily view it through Narisara’s eyes and notice the everyday as she does. She reminds me that there is always beauty even in a place as busy and isolating as the city of London. I hope that my recount of our first independent exhibition—a project of attention, warmth and connection—can also be felt through the screen.

References

Marc Augé, M. (1995) Non-places: An introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity. Translated from the French by J. Howe. London: Verso.

Download the exhibition press release

Artist biography

Narisara Jirojananukun is a Thai illustrator, photographer, and visual artist whose work bridges storytelling, printmaking, and photography. Her practice explores moments of human connection in everyday and transient spaces, capturing the subtle beauty of touch, gestures, and interaction. Her ongoing research focuses on how printmaking and photography intersect to create tactile and visual narratives that reflect shared human experiences. She aims to create works that are simple, accessible, and uplifting, drawing inspiration from small, beautiful moments in the world. She is currently completing an MA in Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London.

• Narisara's Website
• Instagram: @pgnarisara

Curator biography

Charmaine Wah is a Singaporean curator, producer and researcher. Approaching exhibitions as informal learning spaces, her creative practice examines heritage, subcultures, archives and the sonic. Her ongoing research investigates do-it-yourself (DIY) archives of Singaporean experimental and punk subcultures and how they exist at the intersection of political ideology, heritage and cultural memory. She is currently completing a MA in Curating and Collections at Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London.

• Instagram: @charcharwah

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