Sopheap Pich’s Bamboo City
A Cambodian artist builds city blocks from bamboo inside the Henry.
By Seattle Mag November 18, 2011
This article originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of Seattle magazine.
Imagine the skyline of a city built entirely of rattan and you’ll have an idea of what Sopheap Pich is up to at the Henry Art Gallery.
The Cambodian-born sculptor augments this bendable wood with bamboo, plywood and metal wire to create stunning large-scale sculptures that appear both substantial and ready to snap.
His current work, “Compound,” is a commentary on the destruction/construction upheaval caused by the modernization of Phnom Penh, and how a byproduct of reaching toward the sky is the annihilation of natural resources below.
Through 4/1/2012. Times and prices vary. Henry Art Gallery, 15th Avenue NE & 41st Street; 206.543.2280; henryart.org.