Cross-medial works
With respect to content Mark Swysen focusses on human behaviour. His work explores the way in which man gets on with his life: on an emotional and rational level and his social interactions with other members of mankind. From a technical point of view Mark Swysen walks on a thin line between sculpture, painting and installations. The repertoire of materials used is inexhaustible: acryl and mixed media on canvas, different metals (such as copper, lead or steel), wood, bitumen, epoxy etc.
Basic human instincts as an angle of incidence on contemporary issues
While sole works betray a strong emotional involvement, in the grand total of any of his projects Mark Swysen maintains an almost scientific objectivity, perhaps a reminiscence of his education as a biologist. The materials used are chosen on account of their symbolical worth or their emotional power and the basic human instincts they appeal to . The burnt wood f.e. refers to the oxidating, slowly expiring human body. The bitumen stands symbol for degenerating skin. Despite a number of works point out our temporaryness and mortality, the spectator experiences a sense of peace and equilibrum, even security. Other works aim to throw people off balance in order to change and widen the perspective of their observation and opinion on contemporary issues.
The location as context
In the totality of a project Mark Swysen positions these single emotional elements in order to communicate with his public in this very specific location. The interaction between the disposition of the visitor, the artefacts submitted by the artist and the surrounding architecture is the ultimate goal of the project: the totality of context and artefacts has become a 3-dimensional installation.
