If an artist names themselves after a serial killer, you know they’re into some dark shit. That’s certainly the case of Thai artist Phachisa Chanawilaikul, whose alias is The Bathory, inspired by Elizabeth Báthory, a woman from the 15th century accused of bathing in the blood of hundreds of virgins she had murdered to stay young. With an origin story like that, you can expect artwork featuring devils, mutilation, and characters who’ve been burned alive. And yet everything is very elegant, mixing love stories and refined tastes with an appreciation for the more questionable side of mankind.
Bathory is a multi-media artist who works with everything from pencil, ink, and oil; to layers of laser-cut acrylic plastic with artwork printed directly onto them; to 3D-printed sculptures. Everything is done in black and white, with splashes of blood red or bright yellow to add energy and intensity. She even dresses only in black and white or grey clothes and her cats are the same colors too. She says the play of shades is like the battle of good and evil in all of us.
One of Bathory’s recent multi-layered boxes features Joan Of Arc standing tall at what could be the gates of heaven with an ornate design behind her head like a halo and a vampiric woman looming over her from behind. The rear of the box is clear, allowing light to spill into the piece, with each layer adding increasing levels of depth. The Joan piece features a minimal frame, but others, like the Medusa boxes, feature finely detailed frames.
The fact that Bathory’s work is very design-oriented is a result of her past as a graphic designer. She stopped creating fine art for a while to pursue design, but when she came back to the world of art, she brought the lessons she learned from that field to her new pieces. Even when she creates paintings or drawings, she sketches the ideas out by creating a collage on a computer first. The design elements update her style, drawing on centuries-old inspirations and mixing them with modern elements.
Bathory has been an artist since childhood, when she was already fascinated by gothic aesthetics and stories. She grew to love the style by reading about history, folklore, and especially religion. (Stories about murder and ghosts also captivated her, of course.) The first paintings that inspired her were the ones she saw in churches. But she’s more of a fan of the devil than of god, preferring the aggression his emotions loan to her work. She also thinks he can teach us to be better people by looking at him as an example of how even the best of us can fall from grace. She might just be a modern-day Bram Stroker.
