“Undulating Beauty” (2018), black cable ties, 21 x 7.5 x 2.5 fee. All images © Sui Park, shared with permission
Artist Sui Park (previously) zips together simple nylon cable ties to create sprawling biomorphic sculptures and site-specific installations that resemble heaving nighttime seas, prickly moss, and vibrant amorphous creatures. Park, who was born in Seoul and currently lives in New York, started hand-dying the uniform fasteners a few years ago to deepen the contrast between the mass-produced material and her spiky organic masses. “Each has a subtle difference in shape and angle, and when grouped and connected together to develop into a larger form, the subtlety creates a dynamic and a characteristic of my work,” she says.
Whether suspended in a gallery or staked into a patch of grass, Park’s abstract pieces are porous, each revealing the surrounding environment through its body. This focus on permeability “opens the inner space of my work and makes the inside visible. At the same time, I think it opens and creates a moment to pause, reflect, and ponder personal imageries surrounding nature. Different shapes and angles of modules provide various perspectives of the inner space,” she shares.
Park has multiple upcoming exhibitions, including shows running August 11 to November 27 at Cahoon Museum of American Art, September 7 to December 11 at Suwon Museum of Art, September 2021 to August 2023 at the Site-Responsive Art Biennale at I-Park Foundation, and another at Poikilo Museot starting in September. Until then, explore more of her sprawling installations and standalone pieces on Behance and Instagram.
“Summer Vibe” (2021), hand-dyed cable ties and tent stakes, 78th Street at Riverside Park, New York
“Summer Vibe” (2021), hand-dyed cable ties and tent stakes, 78th Street at Riverside Park, New York
Detail of “Undulating Beauty” (2018), black cable ties, 21 x 7.5 x 2.5 feet
“Experiment (Untitled)” (2021), monofilament
“Experiment (Untitled)” (2021), monofilament
Detail of “Where the Wind Stays” (2021), cable ties and monofilament , I-Park Foundation, East Haddam, Connecticut
“Where the Wind Stays” (2021), cable ties and monofilament , I-Park Foundation, East Haddam, Connecticut
Detail of “Moss” (2018), hand-dyed cable ties and tent stakes
“Moss” (2018), hand-dyed cable ties and tent stakes
“Where the Wind Stays” (2021), cable ties and monofilament , I-Park Foundation, East Haddam, Connecticut