We’ve seen many of Vhils’ chiseled works come to life along brick faades, styrofoam, and concrete walls, and now his newest experiment involves the environmentally friendly material, cork. For this piece, entitled Contraste, the artist played with positive and negative space to create a depth within the textured material. Faces and words reach out towards viewers, who are invited to move around the space and to experience the visually intriguing sculpture that seems to be constantly changing.
Located in Covilh, Portugal, Contraste was created for Portugal Telecom’s data center and spans almost the entire width of the room. It is filled with the undulating curves of the beautifully carved shapes and, as light hits the surface, the highlights and shadows create interesting patterns along the fragmented forms.
Vhils produces captivating work in the most unexpected places. He describes his process as “brutal and complex, yet imbued with a simplicity that speaks to the core of human emotions, expressing the struggle between the aspirations of the individual and the demanding, saturated environment of the urban spaces.”
