Being an outsider can be frustrating but it can also be a source for creative release. This led internationally acclaimed Korean artist, Do Ho Suh, to conceive ways of engaging with his personal reflections of living in different cities and the transient nature of global cultures. In this new body of works created at STPI in 2010, Suh’s concepts of self and space are pushed to new frontiers in an exceptionally different scale and medium.
Suh’s intensive collaboration with STPI’s workshop team channeled the recreation of his architectural and figurative forms into sublime and beautiful compositions using handmade printing and paper. “Karma Juggler”, Suh’s monumental etching spanning up to three metres, is a stunning visual confluence of hundreds of individually hand drawn, concentric circles composed to resemble a metaphorical figure supporting the greater whole. Its mirrored symmetry underlines Suh’s prevailing theme of Karma - the force generated by one’s actions that is reflective of its next existence.
Suh’s ephemeral thread drawings represent an important breakthrough in the repertoire of the artist and the innovation of working with paper pulp at STPI. Starting with stitched sketches, these sewn on drawings were carefully extracted from fabric and meticulously set into freshly made handmade paper. The artist’s deft strokes are transfigured in the fluidity of threads and the intricate matrix of knotted, entangled strands. These sensitive yet strong thread lines reveal isolated figures with shadowlike figures or structures hovering over them. Suh said, “They are based on my belief that one is not exactly one, but made up of many different things which are invisible.”
Suh’s works, characterised by spiritual insights and intimate concerns, comes full circle with this series of works on paper inspired by Suh’s famous site specific installations that explored themes of cultural displacement, individuality and collectivism. STPI Director Emi Eu adds, “Do Ho’s transnational dilemma of home and belonging provoke us to think about our own stories, the beginning and endings that define our real and imagined lives.”
Do Ho Suh was born in Seoul, Korea in 1962. After fulfilling his term of mandatory service in the Korean military, Suh relocated to the United States to pursue fine arts education where he received a BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in sculpture from Yale University. Best known for his large scale and site-specific sculptures, Suh’s work draws attention to the ways viewers occupy and inhabit public space. The artist's work is represented in a number of major museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In 2010, Suh presented “Blueprint”, a collaboration project with brother and architect, Eulho Suh at the International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy.
Do Ho Suh lives and works in New York City, London and Seoul.