On December 24, Bangkok-based artist Takerng Pattanopas Curtin passed away at the age of 60 during a holiday trip to Ireland with his husband, curator Brian Curtin.

Born in Trang, southern Thailand, Takerng studied industrial design at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, where he later co-founded and lectured in its Communication Design Programme. Following his undergraduate studies, he moved to the UK to earn a master’s degree in ceramics from the University of Wales in 1996, and a PhD in sculpture from the University of Gloucestershire (formerly Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education) in 2000.

Takerng’s practice was primarily rooted in the duality of concave and convex spaces. During the late 1990s, he created a series of life-cast plaster relief installations that highlight the intricate contours of the human body. This sensuality conveyed in these works evolved in Erogenous Landscape (2007), where undulating bodily forms are distilled into taut geometric curves, stretched within frame structures and illuminated in fleshy red hues. 

Diagnosed with tumors in his adrenal and pituitary glands in 2002, Takerng increasingly shaped his practice around his experiences of illness. A major part of his later work features delicately woven painted wires and beads that form vast networks of capillaries, intended to immerse viewers within a microscopic realm. He also created a series of tunnel installations inspired by science fiction and the notion of the void, with intricate wall adornments that evoke an endoscopic vision. At once whimsical and disorienting, these biologically inspired environments symbolize the infinity of the cosmos and the impermanence central to Buddhist beliefs, reflecting Takerng’s long-running preoccupation with death.

Takerng’s work was exhibited internationally for over two decades. Notable recent shows include the 2022 Bangkok Art Biennale, “Spectrosynthesis II – Exposure of Tolerance” (2019–20) at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, and the solo exhibition “The Nerve That Eats Itself” (2018) at Bangkok’s Gallery VER. 

Arphy Li is an editorial assistant at ArtAsiaPacific.