Nithikul Nimkulrat
August 16 - September 28, 2025
Artist Talk & Exhibition Reception: Friday, September 19 from 5-8pm
Learn more about the Talk & Reception
Craft Ontario Gallery, 401 Richmond St West, Suite 108, Toronto
Please note that this exhibition is at Craft Ontario's new gallery space at 401 Richmond, and not the Queen Street location.
In 'Remembered & Forgotten', textile artist Nithikul Nimkulrat transforms deeply personal memories into intricate knotted paper sculptures. Working with black and white paper string, Nithikul draws on a decade-long exploration of knotting patterns developed through a collaborative research project with mathematicians, merging craft traditions with mathematical tiling theory.
The work conceptually reflects on the artist’s relationship with her father as he lived with Alzheimer’s disease. As his memory fades and recognition slips away, Nithikul confronts the inevitability of her own forgetting. She turns to the ordinary objects that once connected them—briefcase, ice cream cone, pen—as vessels for memory. Each is recreated at life scale through thousands of hand-tied knots, their fragile yet enduring structures embodying both the persistence and fragility of recollection.
The works’ monochrome palette heightens their graphic clarity, while the repetitive knotting process echoes the cyclical nature of remembering and forgetting. Through this meditative process, 'Remembered & Forgotten' offers a tactile record of memory’s textures. It invites viewers to consider how personal histories are shaped, held, and inevitably altered over time. Nithikul’s knotted forms speak to the quiet beauty of everyday objects and the emotional resonance they carry—reminders of what we cherish, even as time works to unravel the ties.
Born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, Nithikul Nimkulrat is a Toronto-based textile artist, designer, researcher, and educator. She worked in Europe for 18 years before relocating to Canada in 2018 and is currently Full Professor in Material Art and Design at OCAD University. She has previously taught at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Loughborough University (UK), and Aalto University (Finland), where she earned her doctorate in 2009.
Nithikul’s practice interweaves making and research, exploring the role of creative practice in academic inquiry and the immateriality of physical materials. Her award‑winning works have been exhibited internationally, and her research published in peer‑reviewed journals and presented at global conferences.
nithikul.com
