The working technique adopted by Willy Verginer reveals his approach, both figurative and conceptual. His sculptures are made up of several blocks of wood, naturally dried for 6 years to prevent the wood from warping. From these rough masses, he creates the forms of his sculpture using a chainsaw and an axe, before refining his work with wood chisels, eventually using very small tools to carve the eyelids or earlobes of his figures. These figures, with hyperrealistic modeling, are however devoid of facial expression; their fixed gaze and apparent detachment contribute to the mystery of the representation and establish, in his most recent works, a striking relationship with the absurd.
July 1, 2019
