Ilán Rabchinskey (b. 1980) is a Mexican artist. Among other themes, his photographic work explores the tension between the forces of nature and the human species, the physical constitution of mater, and the dynamics between objects and images.
He has exhibited in Mexico, France, England, the United States, Spain and Chile. His latest solo exhibition, Foundation Stone, was at Centro de Artes Vivas in Mexico City, 2018.
Ilán has published four books: “Piedra Fundacional” (Muga, 2019), “El Medio Terrestre” (Artes de Mexico, 2016) “Remolino de Tierra” (Ediciones Acapulco, 2014) and “Yo’tan K’op Corazón de la Palabra” (Trilce, 2009).
He has been invited to artist residencies in Tokyo (Casa Nano), Fiskars (ONOMA AiR), Oaxaca (Casa Wabi) and Chiapas (Dedazo) and has received several awards and grants. He travels frequently but is based in Mexico City where he sporadically teaches a project development workshop. His work is represented by Patricia Conde Galería.
Rudiments
In this series I rearrange several objects in ways that displace their usual purpose and re-signify them through the juxtaposition of their elemental qualities: size, shape, density and geometry. The project explores the sculptural properties of objects, as well as the possible relationships between them through the interaction of space, light, color and time.
This process is staged for the camera, the angle of the shot, framing and type of lens used are all determining factors in the final aspect of each ephemeral sculpture which, once captured, is undone. The simplest of these photographs are studies of form and shadow, while in some of the more complex images I put into play an object that changes with time, adding an element of chance into the otherwise meticulously ordered frame (for example, a cube of gelatin which melts turning into a stain that interacts in unforeseeable ways with the rest of the objects).
I am particularly interested in how photography unavoidably transforms an object into an image. Employing the essential properties of the medium (as well as careful positioning of the objects), I try to control the circumstances of this transformation to create images that appear to be in an undetermined state between the third and second dimensions.
These works deal with the qualities of objects and how we perceive them as images, and they reside in an undetermined state between materiality, image-making, and the possible interpretations of the spectator.
To view more of Ilan Rabchinskey’s work please visit their website.