ARON DEMETZ
Aron Demetz is a sculptor who primarily uses traditional woodcarving techniques to create life size sculptures, which often convey his preoccupation with humanity’s relationship to nature. The process of working with wood is a fundamental part of Demetz’s aesthetic, where he explores the possibilities and limitations of it as a material and celebrates the wood textures and its transformation by applying varying natural processes. The simplified abstracted human figures can seem like personification of the wood itself. The resulting works have a strong physical presence, which deeply engage the viewer on a psychological level, conveying both our uniformity with nature and our alienation from it.
The charred remains of the artist’s works evoke a new range of sentiments that delve deeper into the vulnerabilities of both the wooden materials they are composed of and the human figures they represent. Demetz’s sculptures present mankind and nature as one, reflecting the fragility of both. The burned structures peel back the facade of the figurative forms and expose their susceptibility to hindering elements, both in the literal and metaphoric sense. The wood-turned-charcoal figures present an interpretive look at the outcome of physical and emotional onslaught.
Demetz’s work is in important international collections including Museo Daetz-Centrum, Lichtenstein, Germany, Museo Trauttmansdorff, Merano, Italy, Museo Omero, Ancona, Italy; Museo Ladin San Martin De Tor, Bolzano Italy; Palazzo Madama, Rome, Italy; Fondazione Michetti and Beelden and Zee Museum.