New works, 1996

Solo Exhibition, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS Canada.

Aluminum, plaster, graphite, graphite on paper

(forms of various sizes betw. 15cm-35cm in diam., drawings in various sizes)

New works is the title of a solo exhibition that I realized in January 1996 during my stay as an exchange student in Halifax, NS. The exhibition consisted of 28 stone-like shapes in various sizes between 15 and 35 cm in diameter, scattered on the gallery floor.

The plaster forms were cast in blocks, than carved towards their final shape. Layers and layers of graphite lines - literally one surrounding line - marks the surface. The drawing is not an application on top of the form - it is a drawing that is defined by the shape of the object and the texture and softness of the surface which is incised by the fine, sharp pencil. The aluminum casts show marks of the process of polishing and grinding, as well as lines and marks that are incised in the surface. Some of them bear pencil lines on the surface.

The sculptural forms were accompanied by a series of drawings. These were recordings of movements of stones on paper. I placed a stone on paper and moved it with a pencil that was immediately tracing the movement that was defined by the specific shape of a rock. Some were made as "portraits" of specific stones that were moved once over a paper surface and left an individual mark through the pencil. Some of the drawings were enlarged to a confrontational scale to the human body.

In a comment on the exhibition I wrote: In my work I am searching for a way to combine drawing with sculpture. Drawing is for me a most important element in order to deal with my personal surroundings - drawing is a direct transposition of perception - a way to think out new thoughts.

When arriving in Canada, I was searching for a form to draw on. The stones that are to be found along the coastline in Nova Scotia, shaped by water, wind and weather, were especially striking to me because of their simple and reduced, but very dense and contained form.

Markings, cracks, scratches, almost polished surfaces, parts that are broken out, rough areas, - the surface of the stones binds the time that worked on the individual stones and gives them their own history, a life that is captured in the tracing of the surface, in the form of the object, but is still hidden in the contained shapes.

The exhibition consists of drawings (graphite) on plaster and aluminum objects, in addition to drawings (graphite) on paper.

The large drawings on paper show my search for motion, for density through a netting, a layering of lines, traces, comparable to the experiences and the discoveries during a walk between the rocks and stones at the coast, while investigating and conceiving forms and forces, realizing energy.

The "stone-like" forms are made of aluminum and plaster (full casts). They are neutral, without history (except the process of making). By working on the surface - grinding, polishing, drawing on them with graphite - I try to give these forms their individuality, a form of history, a life that is based on the very form of each single object.

I do not want to show a field of stones. I want to realize a surrounding in an artificial gallery space, that forces the viewer to come close, to investigate, to ask questions, to clear his/her mind and start an individual walk of experience. It is not about an image of something, but about finding a general and understandable visual language that is able to express a personal concern that does not give answers but encourages the viewer to ask more questions.