Between Heaven & Hell

Jessie Cacchillo and Craig Waddell are Australian artists in residence at Chiang Mai University.

With the support of the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship and Chiang Mai University they have produced a new body of work: “Between Heaven and Hell”.  This exhibition is an installation of paintings, drawings and sculptures based on mythology depicted in temple murals found in Chiang Mai.

Husband-and-wife team Jessie Cacchillo and Craig Waddell have frequently collaborated on art works in their home town of Sydney, Australia.

‘Between Heaven and Hell’, is a new body of work resulting from their residency at Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Fine Arts. These works are a response to the many images found within Thai temple murals, which depict excerpts from the Jataka stories, episodes from Buddha’s life, scenes of Buddhist heaven and hells and rows of gods.  Scenes of contemporary Thai life are also often represented.

Cacchillo and Waddell explore images that depict heaven and hell, seen through the ages as well as in popular culture, they explore a world of mythological figures and narratives questioning one’s own morality, themes of temptation and seduction and the overarching human desire to attain enlightenment. In their work we can view half-human, half-animal figures that are often portrayed in uncompromising situations.

Via subtext the couple’s images are layered with hidden meanings and suggestions, often playing with titles to portray a world full of satire and moral allegory.