Collection Online
Search the Collection 搜索M+藏品
M+, Hong Kong, © Sopheap Pich
Sopheap Pich 索皮‧比
Compound 複合物
2011
Compound is an installation by Sopheap Pich, one of Cambodia’s foremost contemporary artists. Trained as a painter in the United States, the artist returned to Phnom Penh in the early 2000s, where he developed his signature style of woven bamboo and rattan sculptures. Pich’s forms generally comprise biomorphic shapes (sometimes resembling bodily organs), figurative Buddhas, or architectural volumes. The pieces are threaded or tied by hand into open lattices, similar to traditional crafts like baskets or fish traps, or colonial furniture. Pich focuses on natural, locally available materials; in addition to bamboo and rattan, he has worked with beeswax, burlap, and earth pigment.
In Compound, groups of rectangular and conical modules join together to form a cityscape structure. The ensemble can be rearranged depending on the context in which it is shown. Pich downplays autobiographical references and social commentary in his practice, poetically insisting the gridded artworks are observations or ‘lines in space’. However, the sculptures often elicit meaningful interpretations related to Cambodian culture, such as the traumatic history of the Khmer Rouge. For example, the installation’s cylindrical forms could be seen as both temple domes and undetonated bombshells found in the countryside. Due to its appearance as a skyline or building, Compound reflects the ongoing construction boom and development of Phnom Penh.
In Compound, groups of rectangular and conical modules join together to form a cityscape structure. The ensemble can be rearranged depending on the context in which it is shown. Pich downplays autobiographical references and social commentary in his practice, poetically insisting the gridded artworks are observations or ‘lines in space’. However, the sculptures often elicit meaningful interpretations related to Cambodian culture, such as the traumatic history of the Khmer Rouge. For example, the installation’s cylindrical forms could be seen as both temple domes and undetonated bombshells found in the countryside. Due to its appearance as a skyline or building, Compound reflects the ongoing construction boom and development of Phnom Penh.
Loading