The sculptures of Paul Kaptein: A remix of the present
What the sculptures of Perth-based artist Paul Kaptein highlight is an absence, a partial emptiness, a temporary interruption. A symbol of death, of incompleteness, this void offers new possible meanings. In an innovative context, matter becomes an organic mask for the unseen, an unfinished puzzle that keeps the interest awake into solving the missing links.
The artist is concerned with time, exploring the present moment as a remix of ‘past and future potentialities’, in a reality where the truth fuses with fiction, resulting in a variety of stories. There is also a fine humour added to some of the hand carved wooden sculptures of Paul Kaptein, as he observes human behavior and captures even the most subtle gestures in unexpected ways.
‘Every breath, a dying star’, 2014 / Laminated hand carved wood, graphite, 50 x 48 x 28 cm
‘Two Forms Of Stillness’, 2014 / Laminated, hand carved wood (Jelutong – Dyera costulata), Steel, h45 x w34 x d19
‘Untitled’ (detail), 2014, Mandorla Art Award 2014 – Winner / Laminated, hand carved wood, h58 w28 d30cm
‘A Fast Death (Supernumerary)’, 2013 / Laminated, hand carved wood (Jelutong – Dyera costulata, Western Red Cedar – Thuja plicata), h21 x w17 x d39
‘Echoplasia’, 2013 / Laminated, hand carved wood (Jelutong – Dyera costulata), h51 x w34 x d19
‘Idioteque’, 2013 (exhibition view) / Laminated, hand carved wood (Jelutong – Dyera costulata), h33 x w34 x d36, 2 part
‘The Archivist’, 2013 / Laminated, hand carved wood (Poplar – Liriodendron tulipifera), h35 x w9 x d8cm
‘Limber’, 2013 / Laminated, hand carved wood (Poplar – Liriodendron tulipifera), h83 x w45 x d19
All images © Paul Kaptein