Frozen inside blocks of clear resin, swirling, gestural brushstrokes appear to float in midair. Fabian Oefner is no stranger to the polymer substance, which can be poured into a mold in a liquid form and cured into a solid. In his latest series, Volumen, the artist transforms paint strokes into physical objects with dynamic dimensionality.
Oefner’s practice has often focused on the nature of gravity and motion, suspending objects in physical sculptures or photographing vehicles and machines in the style of exploded diagrams. He sometimes deconstructs items like cameras or sneakers, reassembling them in puzzle-like compositions (previously).
The artist has always been fascinated by the textural quality of paint, especially in the work of Abstract Expressionists who emphasized gestural motions, mark-making, and spontaneity—or at least the appearance of it. Oefner says:
For me, experiencing works like de Kooning’s “Door to the River” or Pollock’s “Lavender Mist” has always been as much a tactile experience as a visual one. These paintings are almost like sculptures to me. What I am doing is removing the canvas entirely and lifting the paint into space, making its physicality completely tangible.
Find more on the artist’s website.
