COLLECTIONS
Sadness, 2023, Metal, wires, mat, monk robe 96 × 69 × 100 cm
The Image courtesy of the artist
Monk and artist Soung Pheakdey, who studies the Dharma of Buddhism, presents six sculptures entitled Khandha in the form of the human body and internal organs. These sculptures are made of steel skeletons, enveloped with mats, and sewn together with seams made of orange monk’s robes. These organs, including the stomach, lungs, heart, and liver, all play a vital role in supporting the body and are closely related to the natural environment around us; for example, the stomach needs food we eat, the lungs need the air we breathe, and so on. The enlarged scale of these organic sculptures makes us even more confronted with their presence. The artist has opened some parts of these sculptures, allowing us to see the rusty interior skeleton and its cavities. Together with these sculptures, the artist also adds a dried tree branch. Through this work, we see fragments of the human body and nature decaying, which the artist wants to warn us of the imbalance of the ecology and the impermanence of life that humans are part of.
Soung Pheakdey (b. 1996, Takeo province) is a Buddhist monk and a graduate from Phnom Penh’s Royal University of Fine Arts, majoring in painting. He is currently undertaking a master’s study in Fine Arts at the Royal Academy of Cambodia. He also took Photography and Contemporary Art classes at Sa Sa Art Projects. His practice centers on issues of ecology and learning from the Dhamar, often making sculptures and paintings. Group exhibitions include Possibility, Transferring, Passing (2019), Sa Sa Art Projects, Phnom Penh; Young Artist Talent #11 (2019), the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Bangkok; Patch (2021), Sa Sa Art Projects, Phnom Penh; and Sa Sa Fundraising Auction & Exhibition (2020) & (2022).
