Diya Nararidh was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. She attended an international school. This early exposure to diverse cultures and perspectives shaped her understanding of people, place, and identity. Nararidh later moved to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to pursue post-secondary studies at the University of Victoria, where she is completing a combined major in Visual Arts and Computer Science. Nararidh is an emerging interdisciplinary artist working across acrylic painting and digital media. Her practice is grounded in experimentation and process-based exploration. She works in the Studio for Integrated Media, engaging with a range of digital software and contributing to a collaborative studio environment through technical and creative exchange with other artists. Her work has been presented in multiple group exhibitions in Thailand and Canada, including INTROSPECTIVE (Bangkok, 2022), Spillways (Victoria, BC, 2025), and PULSE (Victoria, BC, 2026). An upcoming group exhibition, Say When, will take place later in 2026.
My practice exists between two distinct yet interconnected worlds: digital creation and physical painting. By bringing these media together, I explore how our lives are increasingly mediated by screens and how the digital lens alters our relationship with the natural world. In my digital world, I do not commit to a single program or a fixed process. My digital practice is driven by discovery: testing tools, breaking them, and learning from the unexpected outcomes of “glitch” and error. I am currently working with TouchDesigner, where the software becomes a main collaborator, shaping new visual possibilities through play and exploration. This process mimics the complexity of the modern experience, where we perceive the world through a technological interface. I am interested in the irony of the modern gaze: the way we often feel compelled to document or capture nature through a device before we truly allow ourselves to experience it with the naked eye. In contrast, my painting practice focuses on the physical repetition of patterns, abstraction, and realism. Working primarily with acrylic, the act of painting provides a meditative rhythm and bodily engagement that the digital world lacks. I focus on the small, overlooked details of everyday items, for example, the texture of fruit, the flicker of a candle, or the intricate embroidery of silk. These subjects serve as anchors, inviting the viewer to pause and notice the intricacies of the “everyday” that are often forgotten, while also reflecting how we might perceive them through a screen (the “pixel glitch”). By integrating elements of computer science with traditional observation, I create a dialogue between the “pixel” and the “pattern.” My work is a space for curiosity and reflection, ultimately serving as a reminder to “touch grass” not just through a screen, but as a deliberate act of reconnection with the physical world.
