Cycle and Upstream
Cycle and Upstream
Posted 22.08.22
KAUST has taken an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to research, and this is echoed in the influences at the heart of Donna Marcus’ work, Delphinus, which overlaps aesthetics and ideas of the microscopic, macroscopic, organic, industrial and domestic.
In collaboration with UAP, Cambodian-born Sopheap Pich was commissioned to create two artworks for the Sea Court Plaza. Cycle is an undulating, organic form 6.2 m in length and serves as a seating element in the plaza. Originally made from rattan, it has been cast in bronze in UAP’s Brisbane foundry.
Upstream is inspired by fish traps and aims to express movement visually. It appears to shoot upwards from the water at the height of 8.9m and is made from laser-cut electro-polished stainless steel.
Pich’s work connects us to a simpler understanding of the process of hands-on art-making. His work emerges from a visceral experience with the materials he employs. Taking the natural forms of bamboo and rendering them in rigid metal, Pich invests the latter with an organic character and supple humanity. This translation of the natural into the man-made is part of his holistic approach to sculpture borne of an intimate understanding of his materials and subject matter and a spiritual approach to art-making.