Made Obscure: The Visual Maze

Stumbled, stared and startled. I wondered if these walls could really talk. The unanswered visual interpretation of these coloured walls in a Bangkok district of Samphanthawong, commonly known as Chinatown*, curiously dazzles my endless imagination.

‘Made Obscure: The Visual Maze’ unveils a puzzling visual adventure that playfully illuminates the obscureness of exterior palettes in Chinatown*, where a rare perspective is only offered to those who observe. Neutral emotions, derived from chromatics, become my intuit navigation from one coloured wall to the next. A palette within its urban vernacular can be glimpsed as an artform, linking the ‘lost and found’ aesthetic to form a visual interpretation of Chinatown*.

Through a frisky photography experience, this artistic papercraft conceptually reenacts a sense of wayfinding; whereby the pages fold out and about like a maze map. It also correlates with the concertina design of the zine, reflecting on how streets and alleyways in Chinatown* are tangled and branched off into various directions like a labyrinth.

You are encouraged to fondle with the obscure folds, zig and zag through the visual sequence, and ask the question: could the palettes seen in Samphanthawong be a reflective notion to its Chinese heritage and flavourful culture?

Chinatown*—in this context—refers to Bangkok’s Chinatown, locally known as Yaowarat, in the district of Samphanthawong.

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Size: A7 74mm x 105mm
Paper: Eggshell 120gsm (1st edition)
Paper: Olin High White 120gsm (2nd edition)
Binding: Hand Folds

1st edition published in 2023,
2nd edition published in 2024,
Self-Published
Bangkok, Thailand