Year: 2015
Medium: pigment, natural fibers, wood pulp and glue on canvas
Dimensions: 200.3 x 310.2 cm (78 7/8 x 122 1/8 in.)
Acquired from Phillips, 2024
The entire surface of this large work is covered boldly in gold. For Sodi, working with gold evokes ideas of purity, innocence, and connection to the divine. He has used natural materials such as wood and earth, and mixtures of these with paint, to create paintings with cracks and irregular textures. Rather than paints, which have undergone a continuous cycle of research and development to better suit painting, Sodi deliberately incorporates natural materials, thereby conveying his acceptance of unpredictable phenomena like cracks as an integral part of his works. Raw materials such as wood pulp and natural fibers are also used in this piece. Their mixture with pigment creates a surface reminiscent of a barren wasteland where no human has ever set foot, yet it shines with a muted gold that one would not immediately expect from its soil-like appearance. As the artist himself states, gold is often used in both East and West to represent the sacred. Sodi continually confronts nature in his practice, and nature is not merely a thing of beauty—at times it rages, causing widespread loss of life, and at times it bestows fecundity and prosperity. The symbolism of gold assists the depiction of something uncontrollable, far beyond the dominion of humankind.
