Works

Gabriel Sobin Venus-Origins

Vénus-Origines

Gabriel Sobin to the block

mistral

Gabriel Sobin Wax Reconstitution

JUSQU’AU BLOC

Gabriel Sobin Monoliths

ondes

Gabriel Sobin Lightwaves

HOMMAGES

Gabriel Sobin Wind

vent

Gabriel Sobin Fathers Poem

Reconstitution de cire

Gabriel Sobin The Uncarved block

Monolithes

Gabriel Sobin Studio

Maison | Atelier

Take a rock in your hands, and stop.
No matter what stone; it’s origin, color, or other attributes.
Without knowing it, one will naturally connect to something fundamental, the earth’s origin, and the first life forms.
This essential interaction with stone has existed since the early stages of human presence on our planet. Firstly as a means of survival (tools) but also as a connection with the intangible, call it the sacred or the unknown.
This primal bond represents to me the origin of sculpture in all its extraordinarily diverse expressions. Isn’t sculpture an urge? A space of freedom that can bend our perception of reality?
My work is primitive, in that it attempts to quietly associate very basic and primal subjects into materialized form. Exploring light and movement through the mineral enables me to unite the fixed to the ever changing metamorphosis of the living. A carved water drop or sound wave can become a surprising interaction born from its own paradoxes.
As such, it would be more appropriate to describe my work as « intemporary » rather than contemporary. My intention lies in a timeless expression as opposed to a reflection of our present world. However, if the expression is successful, then any work can withstand any context and any given historical time.
To reveal the mineral as a map of oneself: I keep a very child like wonder when discovering each block of stone, each block of beeswax as a phenomenal entity that is capable of changing me; just as much as I, in turn, will change it. If these transformations are good, stone can withhold a power and presence beyond description.
This presence requires no definition or analysis, because the very attempt to define actually prevents entirely any deeper understanding of this vast and silent energy.

GS

We never attain the impossible,
but it serves us as lantern

René Char

translated by Gustaf Sobin