Estimated completion date: July/Aug 2026
Where are you really from?
I've been asked this question my whole life and I've never had a simple answer. Half German, half Thai, raised in Bavaria, now living in the north of Germany, always visibly different, never quite fitting in.
Growing up mixed in Germany meant learning early to shrink the parts of myself that made me visible like the language I didn't speak, the food I didn't eat, the roots I quietly set aside. Fitting in felt more urgent than belonging somewhere real.
Now, as an adult, I'm going back — not just geographically, but inward. This project covers the topics of Thailand, identity, the possibility of belonging.
Through an art installation combining bicycles and technology, I want to explore how first impressions shape who we're allowed to be and represent others who grew up between worlds, now quietly trying to find their way back.
Drawing from my recent 3000km cycling journey from the northern to southern tip of New Zealand, I am now planning to go to Thailand and create a project / a product / an art installation that incorporates bicycles and various technologies to bring these themes to life.
Follow the journey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanutella/
