Rossi & Rossi is pleased to present Pressed Matter, the second solo exhibition of Thai artist Mit Jai Inn (b. 1960) with the gallery. Opening on 24 May, the presentation derives inspiration from the rich ambiguity of the word ‘press’ – in this case, the physical act of pushing pigment onto a surface as well as the psychological tension of constrained time and space. The works on view capture compressed states: moments pressed between action and stillness, urgency and resistance, where layered meanings emerge like textures beneath the artist’s hand.

Known for his vibrant, large-scale installations and paintings that explore themes of perception, space and social engagement, Mit emerged from the Thai art scene in the late 1980s and ’90s. As a student at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, he studied under conceptual artist Franz West, and he came to blend Western artistic influences with traditional Thai aesthetics and Buddhist philosophy. His work has since challenged conventional boundaries between painting and sculpture, frequently incorporating folding, stacking and draping techniques that transform galleries into dynamic, participatory spaces.

Pressed Matter features a new series titled Squeeze (2024), first unveiled at the Jim Thompson Farm in Thailand in 2024. The works are a continuation of Mit’s exploration of how pigment interacts with, and disrupts, the plane of the canvas. According to the artist, his fascination with the movement of paint ‘in and out of the canvas’ takes on a new dimension in these works, where dense circular mounds of pigment are applied onto the surface before being forcefully pressed down, creating flattened disks of paint that radiate outward. The smashed pigment thus becomes a record of gestures, frozen in a state of tension. The title of the series aptly captures this interplay, suggesting tension, release and the fluidity of paint under duress. This process is both playful and deliberate, emphasising the physicality of painting through the act of pressure and compression. Unlike his ongoing Patch Works (1999–) or Scrolls (2002–) series – in which layers of colour seem to extend beyond the canvas – Squeeze turns inward, embedding pigment into the canvas through a process that is almost sculptural. In this way, it invites viewers to consider the painting as an object as much as an image.

Indicating the cardinal directions in the gallery are Marking Stones (2022) and Marking Lights (2022), two series that draw inspiration from Bai Sema, or the boundary stones used in Buddhist temple construction to demarcate a sacred space. In the Buddhist tradition, these eight stones mark the cardinal points of a temple’s consecrated ground; a ninth is buried beneath the spot where the Buddha’s image would stand – symbolising both physical and spiritual boundaries. Mit’s reinterpretation, however, transforms this sacred formalism into something communal and contemporary. His papier-mâché sculptures, rendered in bright pastels, playfully secularise the Bai Sema tradition, turning ritual objects into functional, everyday items: baskets and lamps. By doing so, he reimagines sacred demarcation not as an exclusionary act, but as an assertion of collective presence.