The warped and surreal nature of Paul Kaptein’s sculptures are even more startling when you consider the medium: Kaptein hand-carves each piece from wood. And the “glitchy” aspect of the works is heightened by gaps and holes present throughout, in a sense emptying the figures of their worldliness. And with names like, “With the Poise of One Entering a Black Hole for the Third Time” (shown above), there’s both a humor and cosmic quality to the Australian artist’s work. Kaptein was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Fremantle Arts Centre curator Dr. Ric Spencer offers this for Kaptein’s “About” page: “The humour in Paul’s work belies a deeper investigation into and engagement with streams of newness, such as sub-cultural currents, locational politics, popular physics, transient spiritualism and the accumulation and residue of overheard broadcasts. Fundamentally – it is concerned with the relationship between the immaterial and the material, the gap in between and how potential shifts energy through this space – into being, or as Heidegger calls it ‘the material space of radiance’, as it becomes something and forms identity.”
The stillness present in the faces of Kaptein’s subjects adds to their otherworldliness, conveying that they inhabit a world in which interference is common. And with eyes closed, some are just waiting it out.
In 2013, Chinese artist Zheng Chunhui made international headlines for using his craft to nab one of the Guinness World Records. With more than 40 feet of wood, Chunhui’s piece recreates the beloved "'Along the River During the Qingming Festival," a famous Chinese painting created during the Song dynasty by Zhang Zeduan, nearly 1,000 years ago. (The painting is so highly regarded, it’s often referred to as the Chinese “Mona Lisa.”) Included in the piece are the plants, domestic structures, bridges, and boats that comprise the piece. And let’s not forget 550 individually crafted individuals scattered throughout the scene.
