Liffi Wongso

Srisasanti Gallery is pleased to present Odyssey: Hearth & Mire, a solo exhibition by Liffi Wongso.

A place where fire is kept inside a home, the hearth, suggests a familiar feeling of being inside or indoors, surrounded by warmth. Mire, on the other hand, brings to mind the bodily sensation of soil or mud. Its heaviness, its cling, its dampness, and the feeling of being outside. The exhibition title is held together by the idea of an odyssey, pointing out Liffi’s introspective journey through an internal terrain, seeking wonder in the unnoticed ordinary that lingers between comfort and unease.

Drawing inspiration from ancient Western fairy tales and folklore, Liffi’s works depict hybrid flora, almost like botanical illustrations placed in overlapping layers. Flowers, leaves, and fungi grow freely, while vines and branches twist and turn. Within the abundance, slender figures with elongated limbs inhabit and blend with the compositions, merging with roots and petals around them, woven into it.

Liffi explores the myth of elves in Icelandic and Faroese folklore, known as Huldufólk or the hidden people. They are supernatural beings that resemble humans in appearance and behavior, yet they inhabit a parallel world. Similarly, Liffi’s drawings are non-linear; they drift through the same in-between spaces. They don’t contain particularly great tales or tragedies; rather, they imply what happens in between or around them. Her figures are beings that exist but are ignored beyond our perception. Each work unfolds like an unseen story— overlooked, yet quietly captivating.