CONSTRUCTION IV by Conrad Willems

Conrad is a sculptor living in Ghent, Belgium. His work is characterised by geometry, repetition and modularity, resulting in a highly recognisable visual language. Conrad's two-dimensional work is strongly geometric. He draws freehand and without a preconceived plan. Repeating simple basic shapes hundreds of times creates imperfections that form their own patterns on a larger scale.

His sculptures have the same basic principles. Playing with modularity, this work is often composed of free-standing, individual pieces in natural stone, wood, brick or concrete. The installations are built live, with the building process becoming a performance and the resulting construction an installation work.

"Construction IV" consists of 500 sandstone building blocks and a framed hand-drawn construction drawing. The blocks are sawn and sanded into 10 different basic shapes, based on wooden toy blocks. These are built into a structure based on the construction drawing on black paper. The blocks are not attached in any way, but placed on top of each other in a specific construction sequence.

Portrait: Conrad Willems -  Photography © Alexander Popelier.Photography sculptures © Cedric Verhelst.

www.conradwillems.com