In this exhibition, Zak Shiff presents sculptural objects and mixed-media works on paper, created especially for The Hive project. The installation is based on a rich, layered material language, drawing inspiration from childlike worlds of play, cartoon characters, humor, and associative, intuitive actions.
Shiff’s point of departure is the amorphous shape, from which playful sculptural gestures evolve, celebrating moments of visual spontaneity and absurd, game-like content. The works are created in a dynamic, free, and unplanned process, allowing them to retain freshness, openness, and a constant sense of creative freedom.
Shiff repeatedly returns to working with amorphous fragments, found materials in the studio, ready-made objects, and glossy epoxy varnish. This material process forms an integral part of his long-term creative journey.
The sculptures in the exhibition are made of glazed ceramics, wood, plaster, acrylic, fabric, and paper, and the tension between two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms is consciously explored. Some of the objects bear facial expressions or human qualities, occasionally deconstructing their own functional purpose with irony: for example, a tree-like vase that cannot hold water but can carry a wilted flower, or a bowl sprouting two phallic forms-one happy, the other sad - asking whether theres still room in the bowl.
The framed works on paper are based on a collage technique in which cut amorphous shapes are reassembled onto a painted surface. The combination of acrylic colors, fabrics, and various materials generates a rich, multilayered visual texture. Through a wide array of materials and a stream of imaginative ideas, Shiff composes short stories about moments of play, family, and mixed emotions - a continuous exercise of the imagination that invites the viewer into a world that is at once material, childlike, sensory, and personal.
Curator: Serge Tiroche
Click Here for the Exhibition Catalogue