STEPHAN SIEBERS
Contemporary Artists
Bath
Siebers creates impossible games of balance between volume and weight that surprise and question the viewer's expectations. His forms look illusionist despite their simplicity.
Stephan Siebers was born in Cologne in 1963. He initially trained as a carpenter and then pursued architectural studies before discovering sculpture. This medium gives him the freedom to explore materials such as metal and wood without the constraints of functionality.
His work plays with the laws of gravity. Siebers creates impossible games of balance between volume and weight that surprise and question the viewer's expectations. His inspiration is rooted in the Bauhaus aesthetic and influenced by the minimalist sculptors of the 60's such as Richard Serra, Sol Lewitt and Anthony Caro. At that time, these artists turned their attention to unconventional, industrial materials to accentuate the physical properties of their art. Siebers understands their inheritance and chooses materials that enable him to create sculptures with a certain imbalance.
His forms look illusionist despite their simplicity. The movement seems to be suspended in time and the viewer can imagine what the next move might be, or the next shape to come. His cubes seem to fall and, nevertheless, stand solidly on each other. His sculptures are deceptive: transitory moments are given permanent form, fixed by the defiant indestructibility of the steel.
His forms are simple and borrowed from common vocabulary: cubes, spirals, balls... They can be on a small scale or several meters high: the result is the same. Siebers submits his viewer to a game of illusion, transcending the ordinary and the everyday life of his public.