Figure

Pich Sopheap uses rattan, an indigenous material found throughout Southeast Asia, in his sculptures like lines in a drawing, suggesting form and structure without the density and weight of materials like metal, stone, or wood. Figure, (2010) recalls the ruins of a sacred statue, left only with a single ear, severed arms, and a partial torso. Painted burlap strips have been placed onto the rattan structure in sections, the sparkling surfaces recalling perhaps the material of the original statue or even the Buddhist devotional practice of applying metal foil onto the surface of sacred objects. There is a stark beauty in the figure’s proportions and spare lines while its imperfect form and fragility evokes a sense of melancholy and loss. The curling strands of rattan that flow down from the figure suggests a process of transformation and dematerialisation, a reminder that in Buddhist philosophy, the path to true happiness lies in letting go of the world.