Psychic Body Grotto
LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division) Commission
with support from Creative Capital, Grant for Visual Arts Los Angeles State Historic Park, 2017

LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division) commissioned Los Angeles-based artist Anna Sew Hoy to create the large-scale, bronze public sculpture Psychic Body Grotto installed at the newly developed 32 acre Los Angeles State Historic Park. Drawing on the artist’s previous explorations of materiality, spirituality and the relationships we forge with everyday objects as seen in exhibitions such as Invisible Tattoo at Koenig & Clinton, 2016, and FACE NO FACE at Various Small Fires, 2015, this will be Sew Hoy’s largest and most interactive sculpture to date. 

Psychic Body Grotto is a room-sized bronze sculpture or “figurative gazebo” for meetings and rituals that have yet to be invented. The sculpture evokes the illusion of being organically generated from the earth, creating a locus for contemplation and relaxation amidst the buzzing cityscape of Los Angeles.

Working in conjunction with the efforts of California State Parks to revitalize and create new spaces for cultural and civic dialogue, activity, leisure, and engagement, Psychic Body Grotto will function as an interactive work of public art, landscape design, and gathering spot for local residents and visitors of the park.