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“City Ecology.” Photo by Gabby Jones, courtesy of HYHK Alliance

Otherworldly Zip-Tie Sculptures by Sui Park Crawl Across Galleries and Sprout in City Parks

colorful zip-tie sculptures in bulbous shapes populate a stark white gallery
“Microcosm 2.” Image courtesy of the artist and Sapar Contemporary. All images © Sui Park, shared with permission

Evoking sea anemones, bulbous spores, and supple, round cells, Sui Park’s zip-tie sculptures seamlessly meld the organic and synthetic. The New York-based artist (previously) continues to weave scores of industrial nylon cables into works that appear to scale gallery walls and spawn in dense clusters in public spaces.

Park’s latest projects include “City Ecology,” a collection of 32 sculptures nested in the flower beds and landscaping of Bella Azbug Park in Hudson Yards. Tucked within the lush greenery and dried, autumn leaves, the works are vivid, otherworldly additions to a green space within the city.

After hand-dyeing the plastic materials into bright, bold colors, Park often interlaces the simple stripes into biomorphic forms in blue, red, or yellow. Some of her more recent works, though, entwine ties of various hues to explore what emerges through connection. “In ‘Fermented Mixture’ and ‘Molecule,’ I mix different colors that represent various characters or groups, and I weave them in an attempt to create a new entity that is solely possible through complex relations between them,” she tells Colossal.

“City Ecology” is on view in New York through the end of the year. Park is currently working on a piece that reflects the ocean-atmosphere at twilight, which you can follow on her site and Instagram.

 

colorful zip tie sculptures sit in a lush flower bed
“City Ecology.” Photo by Gabby Jones, courtesy of HYHK Alliance
zip tie sculptures in white sit in fallen leaves
“City Ecology.” Photo by Gabby Jones, courtesy of HYHK Alliance
white zip tie sculpture crawl across a wall
“Symbiosis 1”
a collection of small colorful sculptures in a cluster on a gray wall
“Sprinkle.” Image courtesy of the artist and Sapar Contemporary.
three round cell-shaped sculptures made of various colors of zip ties resting on the ground
“Fermented Mixture.” Image courtesy of the artist and Sapar Contemporary.
a detail shot of a zip tie sculpture nested in green plants
“City Ecology.” Photo by Gabby Jones, courtesy of HYHK Alliance

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