A wonderful marble sculpture with an intriguing provenance. Unsigned, part of a series by Paul Jencik, circa 1998.

This stylish work has a fascinating kinetic quality. It was sculpted by hand in ‘Carrara White’ and ‘Tinos Green’ marbles, laminated to form a block.

Jencik was a welder, boatbuilder and metal worker with a strong creative instinct but without the opportunity or artistic training that would afford his work any recognition. He created a large series of marble and timber sculptures of notable stylistic and artistic merit. He was active in the fringe Arts movement around Melbourne's western suburbs through the 1990s and early 2000s.

A notable feature of Jencik’s work is its robust and humorous energetic expression.

Stylistically, his work carries strong elements of 1990s pop culture, graphic design, skate culture, Pop Art, and Street Art. Some of the more heavy-weight artistic and design works it brings to mind are those of Philippe Starck, Keith Haring, Wendell Castle and Constantin Brancusi.

Most notably, however, Jencik's work stands out as his own unique expression of the 90s street aesthetic - completely of it's time but utterly individual.

His strange biomorphic forms create a curious sense of the familiar but can never quite be pinned down - are they mineral, botanical, animal, human? Something is struggling to emerge - is it menacing or vulnerable? It’s hard to fix on any finite definition and so these works have the curious quality of continually playing with our subconscious.

Our conclusion is that Jencik's sculptures are like small, energetic idols. Yes, they are playful explorations of the materials he had at hand - they frequently feature lamination of different coloured stones - but there’s a deeper paradox in these forms. They’re bound by bands of tension crossing the surface at every angle - a barely contained energy bulges out of the boundaries.

Perhaps this is emblematic of the artist's drive to realise their unique artistic expression in spite of the constraints of their time, place and circumstances.

The examples we've acquired are a small selection of his prolific work. We feel sure he’ll find greater recognition as more are discovered and come to market.

We are currently seeking contact with the artist.

DIMENSIONS:

Height 20 cm

Width 15 cm

Depth 7 cm

CONDITION:

Very good. Slight yellowing discolouration to the white marble, very insignificant. Tiny fleabite chip to one edge, unable to show in images as too small.