ambiguity and form

I cannot seem to find any English info on artist Frauke Wilken but in truth her work needs little words. Her work is a beautiful and simultaneously grotesque exploration of the body, its fragility, impermanence and perhaps entrapment.


Her work has many similarities to Kiki Smith's in the use of materials, the human form, often in a fetal type position, and the balance of being incredibly beautiful while also repulsing you with its texture and construction methods.


However Frauke's work is much less narrative and self referential, perhaps more about the human experience as a whole instead of the psychological dilemmas of an individual.


At times her work also visually reminds me of Ernesto Neto's in her use of womb like shapes, shelters and the the pushing and pulling of the fabrics, but her work has none of the warmth and playful nature that Neto's has. It tends toward a cold alien energy.


For me her most successful works are the sculptures that are the most ambiguous and have just the slightest hint of recognizable human form. These are the most uniquely her own and the ones that feel the most resolved, they also happen to be her larger works.


She has also done some outdoor works, though visually interesting thy lack the austerity and the presence that her other works have.


I have really been enjoying works that are more minimal takes on narrative and to me her work manages this. See more of her work here.