Studio Nick Ervinck

Fostering a cross-pollination between the digital and the physical, Nick Ervinck (°1981, Belgium) explores the boundaries between various media. Studio Nick Ervinck applies tools and techniques from new media, in order to explore the aesthetic potential of sculpture, 3D prints installation, architecture and design. Through his divergent practice, a strong fascination with the construction of space is noticeable. Not only does Nick Ervinck focus on the autonomous sculptural object, he also questions its spatial positioning and points to the phenomenological experience and embodiment of space. Ervinck's work in short oscillates between the static and the dynamic, prospecting new virtual or utopian territories

Nick Ervinck (born 1981, lives and works in Belgium) creates huge installations, sculptures, prints, work drawings and animated films. For several years he participated in many individual projects and group shows. In 2005 he received the Godecharle prize for Sculpture, in 2006 the Mais prize of the City Brussels and the prize for visual art of West-Flanders and in 2008 the Rodenbach fonds award. Recently he showed work at MOCA Shanghai, MARTA Herford, Kunstverein Ahlen, Koraalberg Antwerp, Zebrastraat Ghent, HISK Ghent, Odette Ostend, Superstories Hasselt, Brakke Grond Amsterdam, MAMA Rotterdam and Telic Art Exchange Los Angeles/Berlin

Artist's Statement

I have always been fascinated by the way art has developed due to the use of new materials and techniques. Somewhat disappointed in contemporary sculpture and it's lack of renewal, I turned towards architecture, applied sciences and new media, in order to elaborate a new language generated by computer software, and to compose forms and designs that were unthinkable in all those years before. The studio takes a vanguard position in the field of digital technology ( such as 3D technology, and computational design methods). 3D printing offers me the incredible advantage to produce almost any type of intricate geometry or ornament. Moreover, my images balance on the edge of functionality, spatial interventions, digital aesthetics and object-oriented eclecticism. Using copy paste techniques in a 3D software environment, I derive 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) and to architecture (think of Greg Lynn, who introduced the blob as an architectural constructive principle). I am particularly interested in the ways computers can be used in the realisation of new, organic and experimental (negative) spaces and sculptures within sculptures and how the tension between blobs and boxes is articulated during the digital designing process.