Laurent Malherbe |2

Dutch sculptor Laurent Malherbe is a bit of an über-handyman: he effortlessly blends life and art in installations that redefine the concept of constructed realities. During his latest EKWC residency, however, Malherbe decided to scale down his buildings-in-progress to the size of a model-train decor. In the process he focussed on essentials, a bare minimum of floors and walls, a suggestion of interrupted activities as if the workers are out on their lunch break. In other works, Malherbe stays close to reality, making a plaster mould of his worn-down safety shoe and casting it in ceramics like a Van Gogh painting come to life and miraculously multiplied. Another work, a fragment of a decorative frame is executed in white chocolate – a humorous reference to Hansel and Gretel or, since this is Malherbe, a clear-cut case of home sweet home.