“I like dark things. They feel exciting. When I look at them, I never get bored – it makes my blood rush.”
At BKKIF2025, we met Onglnwza (read: Ongthepsa), or Ongly-Thanakorn Thammawong, an architecture student from Chulalongkorn University. He caught our attention with his art toy “Chicken God” and a bleak fictional universe set in a post-human utopia – “Henri: the Holy Hen Cathedral.” His works weave together religion, philosophy, and meticulous details into a dark fantasy world.
From Green Rice Fields to Hellscapes
Ongly says his journey as an artist started with a simple invitation from a teacher.
“When I was in kindergarten, my teacher sent me to a drawing competition. After that I kept representing the school. Whenever I had free time, I’d just draw. I’ve filled so many sketchbooks. I guess that’s when I realized I loved drawing.”
The first competition piece he remembers clearly was a simple scene: a bright green rice field, a large mountain, a farmer leading a buffalo, and the sun rising behind them.
As he grew up, he continued drawing while consuming all kinds of media – sci-fi films, horror, action, zombie movies, and manga like Berserk and Chainsaw Man. These influences gradually shaped the dark fantasy style seen in his work today.
Later, he discovered the works of Zdzisław Beksiński, the Polish artist known for dystopian surrealist imagery filled with skeletons, death, and barren landscapes. Ongly admits Beksiński had a huge influence on him – so much so that he jokingly calls him the “father” of his artistic style.
Hellscape: Paintings of Hell That Aren’t Hell
When asked to describe his artistic style, Ongly said:
“You could call it Dark Fantasy – that probably covers it best. Or Surrealism. Or Hellscape.”
So what exactly is a Hellscape?
“Images that give you the mood of hell.”
Monsters, skeletons, distorted human bodies, snakes, and haunting faces frequently appear in Onglnwza’s works. His drawings evoke desolation and emptiness, combined with extremely intricate details. One distinctive element is his unique shading method – a circular shading technique he developed himself through experimentation.
Henri: the Holy Hen Cathedral – A World Where Chickens Represent God
The idea of “God Chicken” came while Ongly was preparing his portfolio for the INDA architecture program – a portfolio he says he drew entirely by hand.
The inspiration struck in an unexpected moment: while eating KFC.
The story takes place in a future where humanity has exhausted Earth’s resources, triggering wars over energy. Some humans escape into space, leaving behind a frozen, post-apocalyptic Earth where life barely survives.
Among the ruins of civilization, the remaining humans create a new religion. They believe that the Earth is the Mother, the Sun is the Father, and the Chicken is an angelic messenger from heaven. Eating chicken becomes a sin believed to have caused the fall of the old world.
Thousands of years later, a saint named Henri discovers a living chicken in this dead world and declares it the embodiment of divinity – the beginning of a new religion built around compassion, life, and reverence for chickens as sacred beings.
The project includes playful details, such as a cathedral inspired by a chicken coop and “Eight Commandments” adapted from Christian teachings – including rules like “Love chickens as you love your life”, “Love eggs as you love your life”, and “Harming a chicken is the greatest sin.”
Ongly reflects:
“Another core idea behind this project is that humans always need something to believe in. If one day humans believe in nothing at all… maybe we wouldn’t really be human anymore.”
Final Notes
“If anyone’s interested in a cool limited-edition art toy that’s truly unique, feel free to contact me,” Ongly says.
He adds that if anyone wants to hear the full story behind the God Chicken universe, he’d be happy to explain it in detail.
When we ask if he’s joking, he laughs and insists he’s serious – just send him a message!
Our conversation may have ended there, but Ongly’s God Chicken universe continues to grow – in his artworks, in the imagination of viewers, and in every moment we pause to question the things we believe in.
