2018
ORCHID
Broken Hill Art Exchange
Broken Hill, Australia
ORCHID
Broken Hill Art Exchange
Broken Hill, Australia
Publication
Photos courtesy of the artist
RYAN HOFFMANN STUDIO © 2025 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED
The original title for this body of work was Mirage. Early in its development, it shifted to ORCHID — a change that reflects the fluid nature of both the concept and the painted surfaces themselves. Accompanying the work is a drawing of the Metallic Sun Orchid, a species now reduced to approximately 250 individuals in the wild.
This project explores the notion of fleeting beauty, particularly in relation to the body. Hiking through the arid landscapes surrounding Broken Hill — moving at the pace of a human body — one encounters a transitory beauty: the candy-coloured skies, the glint of light bouncing off quartz, the shimmer of a mercury horizon. These moments are amplified by our physical relationship to space and time.
At the end of life, all things return to the ground — and from the ground, life begins again.
The paintings are moulded directly in the earth. On the reverse, layers of paint are encrusted with dirt; on the front, a skin of polished copper forms a reflective surface. The concave forms protrude from the wall — creating voids, reflections, and acoustic reverberations that respond to the presence of the viewer. I began moulding these works on days 10,036 and 10,037 of my life, and each is titled accordingly, marked with the specific day, pit, and location in which it was formed. Their dimensions are derived from the proportions of my own body.
The sculpted dogs operate as a kind of universal portrait. Their creation, shaped heuristically, gives rise to the title: Besides I learned to make success out of making mistakes. Much like the wild animals that coexist near urban edges, dogs straddle a line between the domestic and the untamed. These works function as a kind of Rorschach — an invitation to projection — and are ultimately intended to serve as a portrait of the viewer themselves.
This project explores the notion of fleeting beauty, particularly in relation to the body. Hiking through the arid landscapes surrounding Broken Hill — moving at the pace of a human body — one encounters a transitory beauty: the candy-coloured skies, the glint of light bouncing off quartz, the shimmer of a mercury horizon. These moments are amplified by our physical relationship to space and time.
At the end of life, all things return to the ground — and from the ground, life begins again.
The paintings are moulded directly in the earth. On the reverse, layers of paint are encrusted with dirt; on the front, a skin of polished copper forms a reflective surface. The concave forms protrude from the wall — creating voids, reflections, and acoustic reverberations that respond to the presence of the viewer. I began moulding these works on days 10,036 and 10,037 of my life, and each is titled accordingly, marked with the specific day, pit, and location in which it was formed. Their dimensions are derived from the proportions of my own body.
The sculpted dogs operate as a kind of universal portrait. Their creation, shaped heuristically, gives rise to the title: Besides I learned to make success out of making mistakes. Much like the wild animals that coexist near urban edges, dogs straddle a line between the domestic and the untamed. These works function as a kind of Rorschach — an invitation to projection — and are ultimately intended to serve as a portrait of the viewer themselves.