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    To ‘Walk the House,’ Do Ho Suh Traverses Memory and Perceptions of Home

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    “Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home” (2013-2022), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House.’
    All images © Do Ho Suh, courtesy of the artist, Lehmann Maupin
    New York, Seoul, and London, and Victoria
    Miro. Photo by Jai Monaghan/Tate, shared with permission

    To ‘Walk the House,’ Do Ho Suh Traverses Memory and Perceptions of Home

    April 30, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    “Is home a place, a feeling, or an idea?” That’s the lofty yet immanently relatable question at the heart of Do Ho Suh’s major survey open now at Tate Modern. The London-based Korean artist (previously) explores notions of belonging, connection, comfort, security, and familiarity in large-scale installations that replicate his own homes in Seoul, London, and New York, among a range of vibrant multimedia works.

    Suh is known for his use of gossamer fabric to create immersive, monumental installations. In The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House, the artist “examines the intricate relationship between architecture, space, the body, and the memories and moments that make us who we are,” the museum says.

    “Nest/s” (2024), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

    Visitors are invited to walk through “Nest/s,” for example, an expansive assemblage of colorful, sheer textile structures that link together to form a passageway or conduit. As the boundaries between interior and exterior are blurred, we’re invited to experience architecture from the perspective of movement and perception, highlighting how all of our interactions with other homes or places are inherently linked.

    Issues around shelter, safety, and community are inextricably tied to how we perceive home, especially when for many around the world, those basic needs are in constant peril or upended without warning. “Suh asks timely questions about the enigma of home, identity, and how we move through and inhabit the world around us,” a statement says.

    The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House continues in London through October 19. Plan your visit on the museum’s website, and follow updates on Suh’s Instagram.

    Detail of “Nest/s.” Photo by Jeon Taeg Su

    “Perfect Home: London, Horsham, New York, Berlin, Providence, Seoul” (2024), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

    Still from “Robin Hood Gardens, Woolmore Street, London E14 0HG” (2018), commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

    “Nest/s” (2024), polyester and stainless steel, 410.1 x 375.4 x 2148.7 centimeters. Photo by Jeon Taeg Su

    Detail of “Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home” (2013-2022), installation view at Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Australia. Photo by Sebastian Mrugalski

    “Home Within Home (1/9 Scale)” (2025), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

    “Nest/s” (2024), installation view of ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’

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      From Gossamer Objects to Monumental Architecture, Do Ho Suh Embraces the Process

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      Photo by Anthony Rathbun. All images courtesy of Moody Center for the Arts, shared with permission

      From Gossamer Objects to Monumental Architecture, Do Ho Suh Embraces the Process

      October 18, 2024

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      For Do Ho Suh, the process of making work is as important as the outcome. Individual sculptures and installations are all part of a larger project that allows the South Korean artist to return to and iterate on earlier ideas, materials, and structures, each time pushing the work in a different direction.

      At Moody Center for the Arts, Suh puts his process on full display, recreating parts of his studio and charting the course for his sprawling practice in which he explores ideas of home, memory, and how we relate to physical space. Rubbermaids full of string and fabric, shelves lined with toy dinosaurs and action figures, and small maquettes of architectural sculptures offer insight into Suh’s influences and creative exercises, while completed projects reveal the final steps.

      Installation view of ‘Do Ho Suh: In Process.’ Photo by Anthony Rathbun

      Included in In Process are several fundamental works like “Inverted Monument,” which suspends an upside-down figure in a dense mesh of string. Also on view is a collection of fabric sculptures that recreate everyday objects like water faucets, doorknobs, and keyholes in gauzy, translucent fabric. Arranged by color, these delicate pieces draw attention to our attachments to and reliance on such mundane items.

      Part of exposing the inner workings of his process also involves what Suh refers to as “dismantling the myth of the artist as an individual genius.” Ongoing in various forms since 2016, “Artland” is a vibrant landscape that welcomes various groups—first Suh’s daughters, followed by communities across several continents—to add bits of malleable clay to the otherworldly terrain.

      Detail of “Artland”

      “For me, ‘Artland’ is an extension of so much of my practice,” the artist told Colossal, adding:

      When I had children, I had to let go of a lot of the control I was used to having in my life. Nothing’s wilder or freer than the child’s mind, and I’ve learnt so much from parenting. “Artland” grew from that small-scale family collaboration, but it’s been so validating involving visitors from Seoul to Brooklyn and Houston—the results are always more fantastical than expected and completely joyous.

      If you’re in Houston, see In Process through December 21. Otherwise, find more from the artist via Lehmann Maupin and Instagram.

      Installation view of ‘Do Ho Suh: In Process.’ Photo by Frank Hernandez

      Installation view of ‘Do Ho Suh: In Process.’ Photo by Anthony Rathbun

      Installation view of ‘Do Ho Suh: In Process.’ Photo by Anthony Rathbun

      “Artland.” Photo by Anthony Rathbun

      Installation view of ‘Do Ho Suh: In Process.’ Photo by Anthony Rathbun

      Photo by Anthony Rathbun

      Installation view of ‘Do Ho Suh: In Process.’ Photo by Frank Hernandez

      Installation view of ‘Do Ho Suh: In Process.’ Photo by Anthony Rathbun

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