My family settled in the US in 1984 when I was thirteen years old. I graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Masters in Painting in 1999, and returned to Cambodia in 2002. After working there for a few years, I found painting insufficient, and in 2004 turned to sculpture with bamboo, rattan and metal wire as my main materials. I continue to use them to this day.
People often associate my practice with memories of the Khmer Rouge, but I make works that relate to many things both remembered and unknown. My sculptures resist easy categorizations and expectations. For me, they are more about the slow labor of making something from nothing, a connection to natural materials.
I like to think that my works resonate with my history and surroundings, and reflect the best of both my abilities as well as limitations.
https://sopheap-pich.com