This nearly ten-foot high bamboo and rattan sculpture by Sopheap Pich is a standout in the second iteration of the Cambodian artist’s two-part solo show at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in Chelsea. Inspired by a Louis MacNeice poem about reconciling opposites, Pich suggests seed pods and lungs with a piece that is 2-D, 3-D and larger than life. (On view through April 19th).
In small doses, bark from the Ordeal tree (Erythrophleum guineense) is medicinal; in larger amounts, it’s fatal. This exercise in balance is at the heart of Sopheap Pich’s 17 foot long sculpture, ‘Ordeal,’ now on view at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in Chelsea. At exaggerated scale, the seed pod magnifies the ordeal of drinking water poisoned by the bark as a test of innocence, as defendants were once forced to do, and presents an object that can be used for good or ill. (On view through Dec 21st).
Silhouetted against natural light, the translucent petals of a blossoming flower from the cannonball tree contrast tightly shut pods in the foreground, but each indulges our pleasure in organic forms. Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich’s largest flowering plant sculpture to date sprawls across Tyler Rollins Gallery’s floor in Chelsea, recalling trees planted near Buddhist temples. Though they resemble the sal tree associated with Buddha’s birth, the plants arrived in Southeast Asia from the Americas via Sri Lanka, a reminder of complicated histories. (Through Feb 4th).
Sopheap Pich’s bamboo and rattan flower is made of natural materials but resembles computer-generated imagery. In fact, this flower – from the cannonball tree – has personal meaning to the artist. It represents the tree that sheltered Buddha during his birth and is found near Buddhist temples and Pich’s home. (At Tyler Rollins Fine Art in Chelsea through Aug 26th).
Sopheap Pich, Rang Phnom Flower No. 2, bamboo, rattan, metal wire, 30 ¾ x 85 ½ x 43 ¼ inches, 2015.
