Yu Ji on Rodin, Khmer dance, and "Flesh in Stone"

"Rodin's watercolored drawings-more than 150 of them-translate Khmer dance into line and velocity by catching the dancers' limbs midair, aligning them with a modern sculptural tradition that privileges movement as form. Yet what I encounter in Khmer dance is not dynamic action but a suspension that harvests both the momentum and the singularity of time collapsing."

"From late 2023 through 2024, I lived in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, renting an apartment across from the National Museum of Cambodia, where I encountered Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan (ca. 600). The sculpture depicts Krishna, the protector, raising a mountain with his left arm to shield cowherds from the wrathful storm unleashed by Indra-a pivotal motif in Khmer art."

"My understanding of the body is modular. When I refer to the body, I think of a whole composed of specific parts, or of several parts in relation, rather than a body that is complete only when all parts are present."

A sculptor reflects on Auguste Rodin's encounter with Cambodian Royal Ballet in 1906 and his subsequent watercolor drawings capturing Khmer dancers. Rather than translating dance into sculpture, Rodin rendered movement through line and velocity. The sculptor identifies a philosophical divergence: Khmer dance represents temporal suspension harvesting both momentum and singular moments, contrasting with modern sculptural traditions emphasizing dynamic action. Living in Phnom Penh, the sculptor encountered Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan, a sixth-century sculpture depicting Krishna protecting cowherds. This artwork became spiritually significant during personal turmoil and inspired the exhibition "Origin of the Tiger." The sculptor's understanding of the body is modular, conceptualizing it as composite parts in relation rather than requiring completeness through all components.

Read at Artforum