Ikaros

2017, epoxy composites, water heating tank, steel, 180 cm. 

Ikaros is a sculpture consisting of a classical nude of a girl lying on her stomach, expressively modelled sculptural masses, a base made of concrete building fragments and a furniture element made of polished wood. A distinctive element of the sculpture is the organic shape evoking a male penis, which connects the figurative sculpture to the pedestal. The figure thus acquires the character of a hermaphrodite. The expressiveness and brutal animalism of the plasticine shapes contrasts with the academic, smooth form of the female body. It is a kind of attack on the conformist conception of the human body, traditional ideals of beauty and the dual concept of identity. The absence of hands and the dynamic position of the falling torso are disturbing aspects and motifs referring to the mythological figure of the tragic Icarus, whose fall from the heights can be interpreted as a punishment for the excessive intoxication of his own success. A story that is a warning that ideas and desires have their limits in the physical and instinctual nature of human existence. In this way, the sculpture balances in visual metaphor on the borderline between the rise of individual freedom and the fall, which can be a tragedy for the individual, but also a catalyst for societal transformation.