Self Portrait #2

Self Portrait #2

Dimensions: 330 x 285 x 35mm

Polystyrene

Self Portrait #2 brings wit and playfulness to Volker Hawighorst’s meticulous exploration of repetition, pattern and everyday materials. Constructed from hundreds of plastic bread tags, the work forms the unmistakable silhouette of a bread tag itself — a self portrait, quite literally, made from its own kind.

Bands of coral and turquoise shift across the surface, creating an almost woven quality where the individual tags dissolve into a larger, graphic composition. From a distance the form is bold and immediate; up close, the humble material reveals itself and the cleverness of the work comes into focus.

Playful yet beautifully considered, Self Portrait #2 celebrates transformation and repetition, elevating an overlooked disposable object through a wonderfully self-referential twist.

About Volker:

Having been immersed in creative design techniques from a young age within his family, Volker pursued a solid foundation by training as a cabinet maker before his architectural studies in Germany. It was within artistic circles that Volker’s initial sculptural ideas took form, even leading to commissions such as the work he created for Munich Airport. Since his move to Aotearoa in 2001, Volker has directed his creative energy towards abstract pieces, preferring to give new life to recycled materials. Volker’s artistic thinking centres around nets, grids, orders, and the interplay of mathematical code like structures, reflecting his philosophy of extracting modules from a given environment and rearranging them to achieve his own distinctive aesthetic. This unique approach has garnered Volker recognition through various exhibitions and accolades, including the Waiheke Small Sculpture Prize in 2021 and the Art in the Park Sustainability Award in 2022.