Artist: Stefan Yordanov
Title: The Cathedral (after Rodin)
Size: 244h x 254w x 100d cm (96.1h x 100w x 39.4d in)
Media: Deer skull, TL/LED lights, electronic adapters, and aluminium.
Unique work
'The Cathedral (after Rodin)' is a new sculpture by artist and sculptor Stefan Yordanov and part of his ongoing research in human and animal anatomy, and in ideas around transformation. Of this artwork, the artist has said:
'As a 15-year-old boy, I had the chance to discover the work of Rodin, The Cathedral, in Paris. The image of this relatively small stone sculpture had an unforgettable impact on me: its mystics, tenderness and the open space between the two right hands in full contact but barely touching each other…Is it a prayer, an act of intimate tenderness or gestures of (self) protection?
Whatever the intended message, I find that the stone-carved hands came alive; you could almost feel the blood running trough the veins and the warmth of the skin, fascinating…
In my light sculpture, I shaped my feeling experiencing Rodin, which is also characteristic for our COVID times experience, our own mortality and coherent on the lack of physical human contact.
We see a deer reaching out with its human horns to the spectator. A creature composed with a deer skull, gently and delicately making human reaching out gestures of different individuals. It’s in remarkable contrast with the abstract limbs and chest, combining the geometric illuminated shapes, an ultimate symbiosis between Nature and Machinery…Its body structure has a new anatomy, similar to the one of the spiritual temples: the ceiling of a Gothic cathedral.'
Stefan was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and at the Amsterdam School of Art. Yordanov experiments in a broad range of artistic mediums including drawing, collage, interactive objects, site-specific installations and most recently light sculptures.
Anatomy has an important place in Stefan’s research as he transforms the physical remains of a being (its skeleton or skull) into a light-giving creature in order to investigate new possible forms of ‘life’. His animal skeletons are a symbiosis between primitive and industrial materials. They unite antagonisms in life, such as the spiritual and the materialistic world, nature and technology, life and death… Poetic symbol and a product of consumption at the same time, the sculptures provoke a new experience of our existence which is finally a form of energy, LIGHT itself.
“In my artistic work I am looking for TRANSFORMATION of life forms…creating hybrids which give a surprising view on our possible future. Human and animal anatomy have an important place in my artistic research. I am interested in the transformation process of the physical remains of a creature: its skull or skeleton would light up brightly in my sculpture, ‘breading’ new energy… "
Please note the visual simulations of the artwork in a domestic setting included in the photo gallery are provided purely as a visual reference and may not be to scale. If you have a specific space in mind for the artwork, you can email us with the details and we can create a mock up of your space with this specific artwork to scale for you.