In grade school, when it was time to go up in front of the class to present a project or partake in the school play, a common remedy for stage fright was: “Imagine everyone in the room is in their underwear.” In Austrian sculptor Mario Dilitz’s work, this coping mechanism backfires and a self-conscious teenager’s worst fears are put on display. His life-size wooden sculptures show us an empathetic view of vulnerability. The characters cower from the viewers, trying to cover their nude, androgynous bodies from their gaze. The masterfully-crafted works allow us to confront a familiar adolescent shyness and fear of judgment within ourselves. Take a look at some of Mario Dilitz’s work below, images via DesignBoom.
