Parallel Thinking: Katarina Holbrough and Laura Thipphawong

Parallel Thinking is a series in which two artists compare their respective works on the same themes, motifs, or content by responding to shared prompts.

Katarina Holbrough, The Crows Like to Watch, 2024, Oil on Canvas

Laura Thipphawong, Edgeland, 2019, Oil on Canvas

Describe the meaning of this painting.

Katarina Holbrough: Being hypersexualized as a young girl alongside my religious upbringing created a strange relationship with my body; it, in ways, did not feel like my own or grounded in reality. With this work, I am using ideas of trans-corporeal to grapple with my relationship with my body and the space around me.

Laura Thipphawong: A significant element of c-PTSD, which I have dealt with since childhood, can be intense and prolonged states of dissociation: feelings of detachment from your body and the world around you. This painting represents my experience in working to tether my mind and body to the present time and space.

How does the title relate to the meaning?

Katarina Holbrough: Crows are often associated with death and the spiritual aspects of life. I also often find myself using crows as a representation of my own relationship to femininity. The title is used to insinuate an accusation that can be placed on the viewer or the figure.

Laura Thipphawong: An edgeland is a liminal space between two developed or distinct areas. Here, the edgeland is the mental and emotional state of being that separates the body and the rest of the physical world.

How is dualism represented visually?

Katarina Holbrough: Drawn to this idea of a trans-corporeal being, I started looking at my body as material rather than an extension of the mind. The green reminiscence of the body mirrors the flora, while the eyes are fleshed and full. Using this dichotomy, I’m exploring this dividing line between self, material, and environment.

Laura Thipphawong: The split down the middle of the painting and the slight misalignment between the two sides indicates an alternation of two concurrent realities. These realities are the same but still not calibrated, which is how I’ve often felt about dissociation. The painting also has a horizontal split between the ground and the black plane.

Why is the figure looking over their shoulder?

Katarina Holbrough: The figure in the work is used to lure you into this receding black background. Feigning a sense of anxiety to mask an accusation, the direct eye contact tethers you as a viewer to look further.

Laura Thipphawong: The hare has always fascinated me because it represents the ultimate prey, and at the same time, it embodies an almost magical level of resilience and adaptability. It’s looking over its shoulder here because it’s always in that state of awareness and vigilance.

Is there a story behind this image?

Katarina Holbrough: I had been reading a lot about time, consumption, ideas of self, and the trans-corporeal. When I start to feel an attachment to a thread of thought/theories, I write down my experiences and relationships with them. This image was formed from this incoherent stream of writing.

Laura Thipphawong: I once took a solo camping trip when the temperature unexpectedly dropped overnight, and I became hypothermic. Losing control of my breathing was a terrifying but ultimately transcendent experience. Feeling my body’s reaction to the freezing earth made me feel grounded in a profound way. The next morning, I hiked to a cliff, where I took photos that became the source images for this painting.