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Collage / Mixed Media / Archival Inkjet Print with Ceramics / 2023

The Sculptor

The Sculptor is a quest for the physicality of the body. The collages touch upon the attractive power of peeping at other people’s bodies or images of their bodies.

Since time immemorial the female body has been the subject of painting and sculpture. Famous prehistoric clay or stone figures, which are often referred to as Venus figurines, belong to the oldest known works of art and are usually interpreted as images symbolizing fertility.

God created Adam (man) from dust and from Adam’s rib he created Eve (woman), as told in the book of Genesis in the beginning of the Bible. In our patriarchal traditions women are subordinate to men and have no real identity of their own. Men consider themselves to be creators and geniuses, whereas women should serve them or act as their muse. Many stories of art and creation make you believe this to be the truth, but women have most often been left out of the story.

In the series The Sculptor Wessels pokes fun at the idea of the supreme male creator. The collages are based on photographs from 1970s porn magazines, from which Wessels cut out the female bodies and replaced them partly by clay (the primal material for human creation). Inspired by an essay by Jeanette Winterson, Wessels wondered why men can sometimes be carried away by their sexual instincts such that they even copulate with silicon dolls.


Title: The Sculptor I, 2023
Sculpture: 61,8 x 87,7 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

 

Title: The Sculptor II, 2023
Sculpture: 61,7 x 87,6 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

Title: The Sculptor III, 2023
Sculpture: 61,6 x 87,8 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

 

Title: The Sculptor IV, 2023
Sculpture: 61,6 x 87,5 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

 

Title: The Sculptor V, 2023
Sculpture: 63,5 x 87,8 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

 

Title: The Sculptor VI, 2023
Sculpture: 63,4 x 87 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

 


Title: The Sculptor VII & VIII (diptych), 2023

 

Title: The Sculptor VII, 2023
Sculpture: 59,5 x 85,4 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

 

Title: The Sculptor VIII, 2023
Sculpture: 61,7 x 87 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece

 

Title: The Sculptor IX, 2023
Sculpture: 61,5 x 88,3 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece 

 

Title: The Sculptor X, 2023
Sculpture: 62,5 x 89 cm
Technique: archival Inkjet print with ceramics on dibond, hand-stained wooden frame with museum glass
Unique piece