absurdity
absurdity is an ongoing project that distils complex experiences into forms that are comical yet unsettling. Individual works are based on true events from Sylvia Schwenk’s six-month attachment to a Federal Government Taskforce when she was a Financial Controller. The project combines drawings, ceramic sculptures and paintings to explore the rigid routines and contradictions of life.
Ceramic sculptures
A selection of works updated regularly. Five further ceramic sculptures works are in progress.
About some of the sculptures
The bully has a blood-red head and towers over a smaller figure who looks up and says, “i’m sorry that you’re a bully.” The bully is threatening yet ridiculous and surprisingly beautiful. The work also carries another meaning: the person being bullied recognises that the bully may once have been bullied themselves.
“I give my ceramic sculptures speech bubbles so that they can express their thoughts.”
The see-saw is no more stages a scene of separation and the loss of fun. Two figures sit on separate timber bases, gripping their bars and facing each other, but they remain static and their shared balance is gone. One figure speaks through a speech bubble: “the see-saw is no more.” The character is commenting on how a once lively children’s apparatus has been removed from playgrounds. This work is a reminder of how risk is sometimes poorly managed by dismantling what once created exchange.
i don’t walk in them exposes sometimes unfair workplace and cultural expectations for women through a sculpture wearing exaggerated high heels that would be impossible to walk in.
These ceramic works are funny and imperfect, yet they carry weight. Together they expose the silliness and contradictions of everyday life and social systems. Through them we can laugh and talk about what shapes us and the problems we share. In doing so, we open the possibility of chang
A selection of works updated regularly
Paintings
The paintings from absurdity translate the personalities and situations from the drawings and stories into large-scale works on canvas. The characters appear in individual paintings at a scale that commands the room.
New paintings are in progress will be added as they are completed.
Drawings
The drawings from absurdity are made with textas on paper, a medium typically associated with children. Each drawing accompanies a story from the book, giving visual form to these laugh out loud moments.
“Textas just seemed the best medium to depict these absurd stories and using this medium enhanced my mindset. “
Over 60 works · Texta on paper · 32 × 24 cm · mounted on paper 60 × 40 cm
A selection of works updated regularly
The book
The absurdity project began as a non-fiction book of illustrated short stories based on Sylvia Schwenk’s attachment to a Federal Government’s Taskforce. The Taskforce was formed to lock down a multi-billion dollar project to reform an essential part of society. Depictions of other absurd moments relating to everyday life that happened during this assignment are also interspersed throughout the book.
The book is a collection of stories, drawings and observations that can be read from start to finish, or they can be read as single stories as you jump around the book.
Extract from the book
The book is in the final stages of editing and production.
Express your interestFor collectors
Works from absurdity are funny, unsettling and encourage discussion. Works are available across all mediums and scales. Individual works start from €700 unframed.
Enquire about a workFor galleries and curators
absurdity can be presented across all four mediums or as a focused selection. The cross-medium nature of the project allows flexible configurations for different spaces. Exhibition proposals, studio visits, and loans are welcome.
Discuss an exhibition