Nick Ervinck Sculptures

Nick Ervinck sculptures represent his own universe, from which he wants to understand the world. They are crossovers between architecture and sculpture, with references to design, nature, science, science fiction and new media. These works of art urge spectators to change the way they look, perceive, experience and think.

With his young but already sizeable oeuvre, the artist is purposively heading for a goal he sees clearly before him. The methodical attitude and the passion for recording which he brings to this undertaking are a tangible proof of this. Every sketch, photograph or folder is carefully scanned and filed away. He is an archivist who is devising his own filing system. In his method of continuity, one image leads to another, and so on, eventually fulfilling an ambitious long-term plan… which includes the spectator.

“With a background in sculpture myself, I have always been fascinated by the way in which art has developed through the use of new materials and techniques. Somewhat disappointed by the lack of renewal in contemporary sculpture, I turned towards architecture and applied sciences, in order to find a new formal language generated by computer software, composing forms and designs that were unthinkable in all those years before.

This computer-aided designs (often referred to as ‘blob architecture’) resulting in organic, amoeba-shaped, bulging forms, were explored by the architect Greg Lynn in 1995. As a result of this new movement, architects started to remove themselves from the linear and corner-like box structures and instead turned to rounded, bulging shapes as structural forms. This constant tension between ‘box’ and ‘blob’ forms is crucial in my artistic practice.”text-align: justify;”>Using copy paste techniques in a 3D software environment, I’m deriving images, shapes and textures from different sources: basilicas, corals, dinosaurs, cottages, Rorschach inkblots, Chinese rocks and trees, manga, twelfth-century floral wallpaper, anatomical parts,… Simultaneously, my work holds numerous references to the tradition of sculpture, such as the work of Hans Arp, Henry Moore or Barbara Hepworth.”

I often refer to a quote by Rem Koolhaas: “Where there is nothing, everything is possible. Where there is architecture, nothing (else) is possible.” I therefore try to let architecture and sculpture meet, and to explore the realm of the impossible by constantly pushing the limits of what we call ‘realistic’.