Eichinger Studio's Blog

Is all art autobiographical in nature? Certainly this question has been the subject of discussion in public forums for as long as art has been created.

How would I answer the question? I, myself, have never viewed my sculptures as an entity separate from myself, as if I was a mere observer motivated by some outside influence. Is it a deliberate effort on my part or is it an inextricable force inside me that ties me intimately to my work? I see, in each sculpture, an extension of my thought processes, my “voice” and life experiences expressed as so many clay figures in a kiln,   an evolving conversation with my life. Only on retrospection does it seem to make some sense.

To emphasize my point I chose my Passage Series, two sculptures which could not be more autobiographical in nature. Their inspiration was drawn from a difficult private time in my life, a time of reflection and transition, a time when decisions had to be made, when whether to hold onto love or to let it go gnawed at my mind.  The Only Way Out Is Through and From the Heart: the female and male sides of the internal debate.

What was it that I sought to express through The Only Way Out is Through? Woman guides herself through her heart, finding her way through her fears in a different way than her male counterpart. In my view, it is infinitely more difficult for a woman to face and move through her fears than it is for a man.  This sculpture was an effort on my part to show that through the passage, fear evaporates, finding, on the other side, a woman reborn.

Note the rough edges of her podium. As she passes through, the edges become smooth with clean lines. Her head is lifted in a brave, but almost cautious display of strength: A revelation and an acknowledgement of her freedom take the place of fear.

From the Heart. I had come to a place of realization in my life, that it was neither my intellect, my ability to reason, nor the juices flowing from my testicles that made my life worthy of living. What mattered, what made my life worth the living of it, was the timbre of my heart. The “stuff” of the heart that man as male has a most difficult time with. I concluded that a man’s liberation is achieved through emotions of the heart.

As we take apart the different elements of From the Heart, we find a man who is being pulled up from his heart chakra, his head thrown back as he allows himself to be overtaken and laid vulnerable by the pulling on his heart’s strings. He gives himself over completely, with his arm flung and his legs dangling, to those emotions which he has held onto so dearly.

Female: liberation means confronting and passing through her fears. Male: liberation is attained through the recognition and expression of the emotions of the heart.

I think there is no better articulation of the autobiographical nature of my work than through these two sculptures.  I have shown my self to you. Will you share your thoughts with me?