Methawee Wangkham on flowers, Isan and a sense of place

I’m an interior designer turned floral artist and the founder of Greenery Pantry, a floral & creative studio based in Thailand. Born and raised in Khon Kaen, in northeastern Thailand, my work is deeply inspired by Isan culture, landscapes, traditions, and everyday beauty. I love bringing a sense of place and my own roots into the way I work with flowers.

I first became interested in flowers through Ikebana during a trip to Japan. That experience sparked my curiosity about floral art, and what began as a simple interest gradually grew into a deeper fascination with flowers, their forms, and the way they can be used to express ideas and emotions.

I’m currently exploring the relationship between flowers, local landscapes, and everyday materials, especially those found in my home region of Isan in northeastern Thailand. I’m interested in creating floral art and spatial installations that feel rooted in a particular place rather than simply bringing flowers into a space.

I usually start by observing — the space, the season, the materials, and what is happening around me. I collect fragments of ideas and materials, experiment with them, and let the work evolve rather than deciding everything from the beginning. I often know what I want to express, but allow the materials to tell me how it should look.

I’m especially drawn to wild and seasonal materials, branches, grasses, leaves, seed pods, and anything with an interesting line or texture. I also love using unconventional and locally found materials, and exploring how they can be transformed through Ikebana and floral sculpture.

Nature is probably my biggest source of inspiration, but I also find it in architecture, interior spaces, food, textiles, local crafts, and everyday life. Growing up in Isan has made me particularly interested in the relationship between landscape, culture, and the materials people use around them.

Flowers have taught me to pay attention to change. A flower can be beautiful when it is blooming, but also when it is fading, drying, or becoming something else. They remind me that beauty doesn’t always have to be permanent.

Stay curious and keep looking around you. You don’t always need rare flowers or perfect materials to create something meaningful — sometimes the most interesting material is the one growing right outside your door. And most importantly, keep making things that feel like you.