Amsterdam based artist Danny Van Ryswyk has been getting a fair amount of attention here on Hi-Fructose lately, but when I recently told the editors of HF that I would be traveling to the Netherlands to visit Danny (Full disclosure: Danny is exhibiting at my gallery Roq La Rue) they took me up on my offer of turning my visit into a “studio visit” post for the blog. So, without further ado, let’s take a little closer look at Danny’s upcoming work, his studio process, and what makes his work transcend the typical 3D sculpture formula.
Danny starts with a 3D modeling program, where he builds out his sculpture. He doesn’t start with a sketch, he just allows his imagination to start fleshing out what’s on the screen.
The program allows him to shape and mold the image as if it were clay.
Once done to his exacting specifications (as well as allowing for technical needs in an actual, physical sculpture) he has the image printed by a 3D printer in polyamide, which creates a white sculpture with a slightly grainy texture, and allows for extremely tiny detail to be rendered out. When the sculpture is done and he has prepped it to remove any residual polyamide dust, he begins the painting process.
All of his work is painted in black and white monotone, but with incredible, time intensive consideration to detail.
The finest of details are worked over multiple times, giving depth and dimension to each piece (sometimes allowing weeks to get it perfect) and allowing it to stand out as a work of art, rather than a mass produced object. Because of the labor intensive aspect, only three editions of a design are ever produced.
The final touch is the bell jar which he houses the sculptures in. He currently sources antique domes that have extremely thin glass and sometimes decorated bases. These enhance the strange Victorian paranormal vibe of his work, and add to the sideshow curiosity aspect to his characters.
Check out more photos from Danny van Ryswyks’s Amsterdam studio below.
