Ulysse
My exhibition aims to explore and communicate the uncertainty and unfairness of life through pain and suffering. My themes express the pain an individual can feel in his/her life. Through death and war, man has caused biological deformities. I try to explore how suffering unfairness is a shared and tragically common state. I do not want to horrify my audience, I only aim to present some of the darker sides of our existence. I separated this theme and train of thought into two different branches. An “Individualist” branch where I look at more personal and individual forms of suffering in which the audience can directly relate. The second branch “Societal” expresses similar situations through bigger timeframes and ideologies, where they are more focused on groups or time periods that vary widely from one another. This is done in order to convey the timelessness of suffering.
This theme started with “055867eth” an assemblage of different casts creating a distorted left arm with a 6 fingered right hand. A found object (identification plate from a soldier) is also present in this piece in order to connect it to the idea of identity. Following this I experimented with different formats and scales, acrylic paint, 3D and 2D work with different materials and found objects. My work is overall very dark and monochrome, reflecting the gravity of my theme both figuratively and literally.
Artists that have influenced the way I explored the ideas and methods used in my work. Hans Bellmer and Otto Dix heavily influenced this with how their work reflected personal feelings and temptations. They both explored very personal and painful emotions and expressed them in different ways. Hans Bellmer greatly influenced the materials I used in my sculptures and the usage of found objects. Anselm Kiefer influenced the use of collages in my painting in order to give a richer and more complex result.
My exhibition space takes a zigzag formation using six boards. I placed my pieces in a way to construct a symmetrical distribution of my work. Both my big canvases are separated by a panel in order for them not to dominate each other. Separated by smaller pieces allows for breathing room and breaks when the audience sees it. My 3D pieces are placed on plinths with sufficient space between them for them not to directly interfere with the 2D pieces. My exhibition is not created in a particular order, and the viewer should be able to understand my work when approaching the exhibition from any angle.
What I want the audience to understand from my exhibition is to contemplate the violence and unfairness of life. Through violence of man and nature I wish to express our powerlessness behind this reality. I also want my audience to reflect on their own personal experiences and explore how they have impacted their lives. My aim is not to horrify my audience but to present some of the darker sides of our existence, where this part of reality is a constant throughout the history of mankind.
Do 27 (January 2021)
Acrylic paint, tape, marker, canvas, cardboard, old fencing mask
42 x 27 x 16cm
Sculpture created from a fencing mask in poor condition. Covered in different materials, a 3D effect is created with the use of lines of tape, creating a geometric clash between the different shapes. The mixture of geometrical cut canvas pieces contrast with the lines of paint. Made out of a multitude of layers, the mask loses its original clean cut. Inspired by the Dada movement of “Dada head’s”. The piece here represents the decadence of traditional western ideology in the modern world.