Robin Mettler (*1993, lives and works in Bern)
Black Metal Relief, 2020
Lacquer on chipboard and plaster, 108 x 170 x 30 cm
In his sculptural work, Robin Mettler uses simple building materials to develop structures that allude to an overarching meaning that is prestigious in the history of architecture. Black Metal Relief consists of an imposing painted panel with a heavy and dark plaster ornament in its centre. Always playing with real and simulated relief, irregular circular shapes reminiscent of contour lines are drawn, appearing visually like elevations and depressions.
Berg, 2020
PU foam panels, PU foam, 210 x 238 x 200 cm
With Berg, Robin Mettler creates a four-part mountain relief with an attached picture frame, which brings the handling of perspective into focus by directing our gaze to a trench. Depending on the viewpoint, we look into the depth of the rock and at the same time out into the vastness beyond the window that lies behind the sculpture. The artist uses polyurethane foam panels from the hardware store and gives them a new aesthetic value that oscillates between artificiality and naturalness.
Steinpflanze, 2020
Ceramic, acrylic resin, wire, lacquer, 44 x 70 x 31 cm
Carbon Steine / Chrom Vasen, 2020
Mixed media, variable dimensions
By choosing materials such as Styrofoam, can spray or plaster, Robin Mettler gives his sculptures in the Carbon Steine / Chrom Vasen series a new identity. Although the title refers to a specific, valuable material, the misappropriation of objects often used for decoration emphasises their actual function: the object is reduced to its aesthetic. Steinpflanze shows Mettler’s interest in pushing the limits of the use of materials, which he deliberately breaks down by combining the plant and mineral worlds.
Robin Mettler is participating in the initiative «artist takeover» of our Instagram-Account:
#artisttakeover on 31.1.2021
