Milan van der Stouw

My work is concerned with fluffy flying ferry wheels, broken branches decorated with ribbons and pearls, and slightly sexy cylindrical shapes. Sometimes I find these lying around in my mind, other times they appear on the street, in which case I might bring them to my studio to repair them to their inauthentic, incomplete glory. Not knowing what I will make, I let the material guide me by keeping my intention open to its implications. Through a playful process I try to unsettle presumed meanings and open up new, possible ones. An intimate relationship with undefined potential can be very messy, frustrating, and may require a lot of patience, but it is well rewarded with feelings of curiosity, wonder, and openness.

Consisting of drawings and sculptures, my works can be seen as a reimagination of our mundane environment and the meanings we assign to the things that inhabit it. A dream-like, almost-reality that is frozen in a moment of creation, transformation or decreation. While the drawings are depictions of intangible, incomprehensible states of reality, the sculptures are in a way the exact opposite. Here the tangible, the material, takes the lead and shines forth in its freedom from definition. The material still calls upon our imagination of possible meanings or uses, but is not dominated by our comprehension of it. As more and more of the things around us seem to be valued based on their efficiency, predictability and coherence, I ask: How can we find meaning beyond definition?

Deze pagina is voor het laatst gewijzigd op 19 juni 2024

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