Untitled

Sopheap Pich

2009 · Rattan, wire, dye · Asian Art

“Buddha 2 was born out of a short journey my family took on foot from a Khmer Rouge village to the center of Battambang, the province of my birth. The Buddha was to symbolize a temple called Wat Ta Mim. My family built a hut across the street. I used to go past the temple ground everyday with a buffalo to the rice field several hundred meters away. I would occasionally walk inside the temple hall to see bloodstains on the floor, ceiling, and walls—bloodstains that looked like they had been sprayed with a toy gun. Where there used to be the normal Buddha sculptures, there were just piles of broken things I couldn’t see. . . . I was afraid to look in the dark. I’ve never made a Buddha sculpture prior to this. . . . It just happened that as I moved down from the shoulder area, I thought it maybe was enough for what I wanted to say. I dipped the ends of the strands in India ink to get at the bloodstains I had seen. Some say it is about the broken state of religion and culture.” —Sopheap Pich

Artist

Sopheap Pich

Date

2009

Medium

Rattan, wire, dye

Culture

Cambodia

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2012