Grosse schwarze Kerze

Sebastian Utzni preserves the image of a burning candle, a symbol of transience, as a three-dimensional object in black glass. Time is suspended shortly before the candle wax drips away entirely and the wick’s fuel is removed. Were the wax to have run out, only the memory of its burning would remain. There is an obvious analogy with the passing of a lifetime. Yet memory too is sometimes fluid and sometimes fixed. Is this in fact an attempt to stop time, or to turn the wheel of time back a little?

Kunsthaus Grenchen catalogue text

Photos © by Alexandra Roth.