Kopf (Head)

The figurative sculpture of Stephen Balkenhol seems naive, even crude at first glance. But the longer one meets the unwavering gaze of Balkenhol's subjects, the more disarmed one feels. In Kopf, 1992, an ordinary looking man is elevated to imposing stature in larger than life scale. His distant, blue-eyed stare communicates a sensitive, reflective intelligence. He appears poised and calm, anticipating something. His clear-eyed but vulnerable human presence is off-set by the raw, rough-hewn sculptural surface replete with cracks and splinters. Chisel marks roughly describe Balkenhol's forms, as well as bring into focus the artist's rigorous physical task of carving human essence from a chunk of wood. The result is a visual simplicity of essential expression that allows the meaning of the art work to trump its physicality.