Karma Juggler

Do Ho Suh’s lithograph Karma Juggler is part of an extended series of drawings and editioned prints Suh initiated in 2004. As seen here, Suh uses the repetition of human figures or figurative stand-ins, such as circles, to represent the chain of influence of the individual on the many, especially through language, culture, and familial connections. Suh refers to this human connectivity as “karma,” a variant of the Hindu metaphysical concept of karma that addresses how the actions of an individual affect their futures lives. Both variants rest on the spiritual principle of cause and effect. Suh’s conceives his “juggler” as a distinct, coherent entity composed of hundreds of concentric rings or circles that represent both harmony and the causality of moral choices over time. It is a visual expression of the human condition, and how morality-based karma is present in everyone’s daily lives.