Sopheap Pich

b. 1971 Battambang, Cambodia
Lives and works in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The sculptures of Sopheap Pich hover between abstraction and representation, suggesting land forms, bodily organs or functional objects, while creating an expressive formal language of their own. Working with rattan and bamboo, ubiquitous materials in Cambodia, Pich aims to create sculptures that speak to his contemporary surroundings, landscape and history, while leaving space for free interpretation. They flow, spiral, swell and contract, creating poetic yet tightly realised forms that connect to both traditional craft and avant-garde sculpture, reflecting Pich’s upbringing and current experience in Cambodia as well as his years living and studying in the United States. More recently, the artist has begun to work with materials that add extra layers of reference to his rattan works — glass vials as used in traditional medicine, for example, as well as burlap, a material used by farmers. For APT6, Pich will present a new group of sculptures inspired by childhood memories of a family journey across Cambodia, at the end of the Khmer Rouge era. As he says, ‘it is good if sculptures make people aware that there are shapes in their environment. It encourages them to use their memory’.

Exhibitions (solo): Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, United States, 2009; Gallery H, Bangkok, Thailand, 2007; Sala Art Space, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2007. Exhibitions (group): ‘Forever Until Now’, 10 Chancery Lane, Hong Kong, China, 2009; ‘Strategies from Within’, Ke Center, Shanghai, China, 2008.

Video
View Sopheap Pich's artist talk from the APT6 Opening weekend (part 1 of 2) (part 2 of 2)

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