TOWARDS A NECESSARY ABSTRACTION

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“The more horrifying the world becomes, the more art becomes abstract, while a world at peace produces realistic art.”
— Paul Klee

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Confronted with the tensions of our time, abstraction has become for Irina Shark a language through which to express what lies beyond words. Her work is gradually moving away from a faithful representation of the body. The search for new forms leads her towards a more symbolic and constructed mode of figuration, in which composition carries the narrative. The human figure remains central: fractured, assembled, suspended or brought into relation, it conveys the inner and collective tensions of the present — confrontation, instability, the urge to escape and the fragility of human bonds.

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This evolution is accompanied by an exploration of materials. Irina Shark works primarily in wax using the direct method, prior to casting in bronze. The plasticity of wax allows her to model, fragment, assemble or alter forms, and to capture movement within them.

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Although autonomous works, these sculptures are also conceived as maquettes for larger-scale projects intended to engage with architecture or public space.

The works presented here are organised into three groups:

Confrontations, Escapes and On Love.