Stephan Balkenhol — À propos — Slash Paris

Balkenhol carves his characters with a mallet and chisel directly into tree trunks, often made of wawa wood. Never trying to erase tool marks, he leaves bare the raw aspect of the wood. The unique sculptures of the artist are combined with high pedestals that place them at man’s height. The colours applied later to structure the silhouettes are totally devoid of expressive value and contribute to lose sight of the original material. His men, women and animals seem both distant and attentive to the viewer. "I try to give them an open expression to others, says the artist. From there, all situations are possible”. The carved reliefs, in front of which the three-dimensional figures are placed, are also a means of creating situations that complexify the interpretation and open to a poetic narrative.

Stephan Balkenhol, Fabula, Thaddaeus Ropac “extract”