Yu Ji's 'Origin of the Tiger' at P.P.O.W, New York

Yu Ji's first solo exhibition in New York, 'Origin of the Tiger,' runs from March 6 to April 11, 2026, at P.P.O.W. The show features multimedia works made during a self-organized six-month residency in Phnom Penh under the project PKA (PLAY KNOW ATTENTION) with four artist-friends, in partnership with the nonprofit Empowering Youth in Cambodia. The works incorporate reed mats handwoven with Khmer artisans, concrete knees attached to chairs, lead-cast tamarind pods, and a mobile with a music box playing children reading the title story in Khmer. The exhibition's title references a Cambodian folktale about a king, queen, ministers, and a royal astrologer transforming into parts of a tiger. A headless life-sized figure, 'Flesh in Stone – Anthropos VI' (2026), recasts fragments of an ancient statue of Krishna at the National Museum of Cambodia, symbolically reuniting parts previously misattributed to US museums. The show emphasizes joints, connections, and reconfiguration, reflecting Yu's migratory lifestyle.