A11, INSTALLATION, 2023

A11 is a wafer-thin sculpture in Pierre de Lens Limestone. Spanning 160 centimeters wide, the heavy stone sculpture is balancing on a point the size of a tealight. Limestone being quite brittle, the strength of this work lies in its fragility. The looming danger of breaking the sculpture prompts questions about the precarious nature of beauty and of life itself. Therefore it may be seen as an abstraction of the nude human soul.

The sculpture stands in a black body of water. Reflecting its own image, it stares into the depths of itself – not to fall in love, like Narcissus, but to see the parallel world that hides behind its own reality. With its smooth features and its horizontal lines the work reminds us of the countless reclining nudes we find throughout art history, portraying the beauty and the humanity of their (usually feminine) models. This artwork might be placed in that tradition, not as portraying the beauty of female vulnerability however; but as a tribute to her singular strength.

Title: [A11], Material: Pierre de Lens limestone, Size: 25cm x 58cm x 160cm, 2023