Kingphaka's Story
Kingphaka Chompooja (KC Clay Flowers) joins StrideFest as a featured artist with 32 years of sculpting botanical forms from clay. Born in Thailand and immigrated to Canada in 2016, she exhibits across Canada at venues such as Muttart Conservatory, Deer Lake Festival, and Shadbolt For The Arts.
Her work blends botanical accuracy with sculptural abstraction, faithfully copying tropical blooms-hibiscus, plumeria, heliconia and orchids, fragile winter flowers found in cold climates. KC’s unique clay formulas create durable, textured surfaces that translate the softness and movement of living petals. She also crafts delicate dolls and detailed miniatures, extending her botanical narrative into intimate, hand-built objects, by stabilizing ephemeral forms, she preserves memories while exploring identity, cultural exchange, and resilience.
Her new StrideFest series celebrates Thai gardening heritage alongside Canadian influences, inviting close interaction and reflection through pieces that are both playful and contemplative. Visitors are encouraged to touch and share their responses.
Kingphaka Chompooja (KC Clay Flowers ), born in Thailand on 24 December 1976 and based in Canada since 2016.
My practice explores memory , home and the persistent intimacy of flowers. Childhood hours in my grandmother’s garden provided the visual language for work that translates botanical recollection into enduring sculptural forms.
After immigrating to Canada in January 2016 I first showed at Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton Alberta, after relocating to North Vancouver I began presenting at Deer Lake Festival and The Shadbolt Centre For The Arts from November 2016 onward.
Central to my practice is a proprietary clay recipe that yields a textured, long lasting material capable of conveying the softness and movement of living blooms. By stabilizing fragile ephemera I aim to preserve emotional resonance while inviting close viewing and tactile engagement.
My work bridges Thai roots and Canadian experience, offering quiet monuments to personal and collective remembrance.
