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“Global Hybrid” group exhibition, Meta House,
July 2 to August 2, 2009, Phnom Penh.
“WRITHS” by Sopheap Pich
Rattan and wire, 2009, 110 cm x 145 cm x 130 cm
Based in Phnom Penh, Sopheap Pich is a Cambodian artist. He was born in Battambang in 1971 and has emigrated to Amherst, Massachussets, USA in 1984, with his parents and his three brothers. During his College years, Sopheap eventually traveled, studied and lived in Miami, Chicago, France and Boston where he received his Masters of Arts.
In 2002, Sopheap Pich decided to come back living in Cambodia. In Phnom Penh he has settled a space for work, found his voice (abandoning painting for sculpture) and his material, rattan and bamboo, which he uses to create his sculptures, some of them referring to the body and our organs, and the feelings and emotions that our mind and spirit experience through them.
One of the most prominent artists in Cambodia today, Pich now receives international interest. His work is currently represented by H Gallery in Bangkok, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery in Hong Kong and Tyler Rollins Fine Art in New York City. Important past shows include “The Best of Discovery” and “The Ke Center for the Contemporary Art”, both in Shanghai, or a participation at the Fukuoka Triennale in Japan. In November, Pich will open "The Pulse Within", a solo show in New York. In December he will be part of the Asia Pacific Triennale in Queensland, Australia. Few Cambodian artists have yet been that prolific and successful to that international level. Still, Sopheap Pich recognizes that this is something he couldn’t have achieved if he had not secured great working relationships with the two assistants working with him in his studio...Sopheap Pich's work is online at http://sopheappich.com/
Toma (above left and below), 31, Sopheap’s assistant. They have worked together since 2004.
