Yves Rasch – Denken in Holz

We are drawn to explore Yves Rasch’s sculptures, to touch them – to trace their organic curves and contours with our hands – or at least to do so with our eyes as a substitute, whilst the sculptures are on display in the gallery!
The gentle curves, the bulges and hollows encourage us to trace them with our eyes, to stroke the smoothly polished wood as if it were a bare arm or a head.
This stimulation of our bodily sensations forms the first and most direct point of access to the sculptures, prior to any interpretation or analysis.
What then catches the eye is the dual form characteristic of almost all of Yves Rasch’s sculptures – and their dynamism.
An inner movement in which the mass seems to rise – to grow upwards, like the tree from which the wood originates, from which the sculpture is crafted.
And yet, not quite: For a tree trunk, if left unhindered, grows purposefully upwards towards the light – that is, in a straight line – whilst the sculptures swing or twist upwards in twists, curves and even spirals, thereby freeing themselves from gravity.
Prof. Dr Hubertus Gaßner