Anna Skubisz

My work is meant to raise questions. I come across stories and emotions within myself and wonder/explore where they came from in order to capture them in sculpture. The viewer is then invited to make their own interpretation.

The results are three-dimensional sculptures that I mainly make from natural materials, such as wool or paper. Organic shapes can always be found in my work, such as human and animal figures. I want my sculptures to take the viewer on a journey, first through my stories and then through their own.

The figures I make are lively, but portray transience and mortality. My works are about fear, loss and longing. Everything is shaky and finite for the individual, yet the cycle continues imperturbably. This is how we can find comfort in our discomfort. These are big themes, but because of the materials I use and the shape I give the figures, their story is also intimate and personal. Like in my installation My Lost Boys; nine children float through space, one stands on the floor and watches them. Their skin is made of soft undyed wool, the light shines diffusely through. This group represents the children I will never have. I feel at home with these kinds of subjects and express them in a visual language that leaves room for the imagination but is never naive. Spectators feel both attracted and repelled by this work.

Often I hear that my work is alienating. People are drawn to what they recognise from afar: the shapes of a human body or a harmless animal, but coming up close they see that it is not quite what it seems. Then the feeling takes over: the viewer is surprised, moved, feels uncomfortable or shocked. My sculptures invite visitors to step into another world. For some this is a pleasant experience, for others it is uncanny. I want to bring up all those experiences and the stories behind them with my work, both with myself and with the viewer. That is why I increasingly work with larger sculpture groups, so visitors can move between them. With my work I invite people to roam, and who knows, maybe they will find something.