2015 - 2020: Temple +
Temple is the project that Yonatan Ullman created over the duration of approximately five years (2015 - 2020).
This project was conceived as a ‘negative to’, or ‘reverse of’, the project ‘FORCE’ -
If in ’FORCE’ Ullman gradually applied layers of paint one on top of the other,
then ripped back through these layers -
’Temple’ mainly consists of works created by casting plaster into thin molds.
These molds were gradually mounted one on top of the other.
When the cast was eventually done and relieved from the layered molds,
low plaster reliefs were revealed.
Traditionally, plaster was used to create models for sculptures that would later be sculptured in wood or marble.
However, in this project the finished state is in plaster.
These works thus feel like proposals for a work that never came into fruition,
or, like the figures in Pompey, a remnant of something that once existed but no longer does.
Moreover, These low-reliefs come off of white formica surfaces.
The minute difference in tone between the glossy-white formica
and matt-white plaster creates a stunning visual effect
which gives each image a ghostly presence, or hovering effect.
These subtle - colossal - fragile low reliefs sit in an estranged vacuum
between two and three dimensions -
between ‘raised paintings’ and ‘flattened sculptures’-
between ‘an idea’ and its’ ‘manifestation’.
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