Research Statement

Research Statement

 My research project focuses on Do Ho Suh a Korean sculpture artist. He was born in Seoul, Korea in 1962. After earning his BFA and MFA in Oriental Painting from Seoul National University, and fulfilling his term of mandatory service in the South Korean military, Suh relocated to the United States to continue his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and Yale University. Kwon, Miwon said in 2002:"He is interested in the malleability of space in both its physical and metaphorical manifestations; Do Ho Suh constructs site-specific installations that question the boundaries of identity." His work tend to express the relation between individuality, collectivity, and anonymity. In blog the majority researches are about his achievement in the sculptures.

            When I got the artist list, I was thinking whom I would pick to do the research. I was searching their works online and trying to find a person I interested. Then, I found Do Ho Suh, his amazing works and the beautiful colors he used attracted me a lot. It is unbelievable to finish the huge art works. I like the comparison method and the repetitive method he used in his works. There are some examples I want to explain below:

            For the work “Staircase” and the “Home with Home”, I like the special materials that he used and the beautiful bright colors he represented. Staircase is based on a staircase and floor in Suh's landlord's apartment. From the description by David winton bell gallery: "fabricated in vibrant red nylon, Staircase is visually striking. Not quite touching the floor, the staircase extends down from a blanket of red that Suh associates with the floor of the space above. The work shadows the viewer." For the home with home, viewers can enter and walk through the apartment, find the fireplace and bookshelves, the stove, refrigerator, and sink, and the light switches, sockets, doorknobs, and locks. His architecture illustrates how our memory of space affects space itself.

            For the work “Floor” and “Public Figures”, both of the two works used the comparison method and the repetitive method. He used his miniature figures to support a heavy stone pedestal in the “Public Figures”, and also use the miniature figures to form a huge screen with their bodies in the “Floor”. As an audience, by looking at his works, I can feel the human’s power from the little figures. Especially, when he put the little figures and the huge stone or huge screen together. I can’t image how long he has taken for finishing the art works. In one words, there are really the amazing art works.

            For the work “Karma” and “Cause and Effect”, he continues to use the repetitive method in his works. From the description by Albright-Knox Art Gallery: "Karma, a twenty-three-foot-high, monumental bronze sculpture, reflects the monumental and elegant in the precarious tower of crouching human figures stacked one upon the other." Besides, “’Cause & Effect’ evokes a vicious tornado. This vast ceiling installation is a composition of densely hung strands that anchor thousands of figures clad in colors resembling a Doppler reading stacked atop one another,” said Do Ho Suh, adding that the artwork is a “physical realization of existence, suggesting strength in the presence of numerous individuals. The work is an attempt to decipher the boundaries between a single identity and a larger group, and how the two conditions coexist.” Through the great details and the repetitive method he used, he represented the monumental and elegant style in his works.

            Except doing some research of his achievement of the sculptures, I also doing the research of his education schools and the definition of sculpture, the style of modern sculpture and the history of the materials that the artist used for their sculpture works. According to wikipedia:"Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard material as well as the softer materials." However, Cece Evans represented: "the modern sculpture tended to share interests in abstraction, materiality and questions of form. Modern sculpture heralded a range of new materials and new techniques, from monumental factory-made steel sculptures to plastics. Modern sculpture thus displays multiple and diverse approaches and ideas." For the materials used in sculpture are diverse, changing throughout history. Besides, Do Ho Suh graduated in the famous art schools, the Rhode Island School of Design and Yale University, also finished the BFA and MFA in Seoul National University is also the famous school in Korea. That reminds me have a good education and hard work in the college are the important element of being success.

            In conclusion, it was a great experience putting this little research blog together. I learned a lot about the sculpture by doing the blog. Also, it is great to have a chance to understand the famous artist Do Ho Suh and his works. As an Asian studying in the U. S, by looking at his works, I can find some common thinking from his ideas. It is amazing processes to spend the time and do the huge projects; his enthusiasm of the art is worth for us to learn.