Andreas Senoner: Metamorphosis

Italian artist Andreas Senoner uses the concept of metamorphosis to highlight the emotional and physical mutation man experiences when facing great change. Transformation occurs in key moments of life and leaves a different trace, sometimes permanent, on each individual’s behavior and way of thinking.

There is a special phase when all fears, hopes and dreams manifest simultaneously and this is excellently outlined in the gestures of the sculpted figures, in the way they hide beneath the appearance of a bird-like creature or in their silent waiting, and that is the shift from childhood to becoming an adult, as if waking up from a deep sleep to find that we are no longer ourselves in this new form of being.

The dark feathers covering the body of these children do not seem to act as symbols of freedom, but rather as a limiting new identity the characters are unable to escape despite their efforts of detachment. There is an unspoken longing for a dear memory, a state of peace they regret lacking now, a feeling of loss and anxiety towards the uncertainty that meets them for the first time in this confusing yet inevitable process of evolution and growth.

Andreas Senoner - Cage, 2016, 52x19x14 cm, painted wood, feathers

‘Cage’, 2016, 52x19x14 cm, painted wood, feathers

Andreas Senoner - Forget me not, 2016, 90x85x48 cm, painted wood, feathers

‘Forget me not’, 2016, 90x85x48 cm, painted wood, feathers

Andreas Senoner - Target, 2013, 54x12x10 cm, painted wood, feathers

‘Target’, 2013, 54x12x10 cm, painted wood, feathers

Andreas Senoner - Shapeshifter, 2015, 54x24x10 cm, painted wood, feathers

‘Shapeshifter’, 2015, 54x24x10 cm, painted wood, feathers

Andreas Senoner - Metamorphosis, 2016, 58x25x20 cm, painted wood

‘Metamorphosis’, 2016, 58x25x20 cm, painted wood

Andreas Senoner - Deep Sleep, 2015, 47x19x19 cm, painted wood, glass

‘Deep Sleep’, 2015, 47x19x19 cm, painted wood, glass

Andreas Senoner - I'm so sorry, 2015, 38x31,5x4 cm, painted wood

‘I’m so sorry’, 2015, 38×31,5×4 cm, painted wood

Andreas Senoner - I learned all I know by the age of nine, 2012, 91x25x17 cm, painted wood, fabric

‘I learned all I know by the age of nine’, 2012, 91x25x17 cm, painted wood, fabric

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Images © Andreas Senoner

View more on his website, on Instagram and Facebook.