Trust / Distrust

Tijdsbeeld by Kristien Hemmerechts
translated into bronze by Barry Racon

This Tijdsbeeld resonates precisely because it resists a single interpretation. Two forms appear to relate to one another, yet they cannot be reduced to one fixed meaning. The figure on the left radiates calmness. It stands firmly and openly, almost protectively, as if inviting closeness or embrace. Opposite it stands a more fragile form, hesitant and tense. It seems to withdraw, as though trying to evade contact. At the same time, it carries something threatening within it, a sharp and unsettling gesture.

The strength of the work emerges from this tension. Protection and attack, the longing for connection and the instinct to keep distance, vulnerability and resistance coexist here side by side. The sculpture does not depict a single emotion, but rather a human tension that remains constantly in motion. In this sense, it strongly echoes the work of Kristien Hemmerechts. As a writer, she is driven by a profound curiosity about the motives behind human behaviour. In her novels and essays, she explores not only what people do, but above all the doubts, desires, fears and contradictions that lie beneath their actions. Her characters are rarely predictable. They move within a space where attraction and rejection, longing and restraint continuously collide.

That same complexity takes on a sculptural form here. The two figures seem to seek one another out while simultaneously avoiding each other. They reveal how vulnerability can suddenly turn into defence, how intimacy may evoke fear, and how strength often coincides with fragility. It is precisely this hesitation, this inner complexity, and this refusal to be reduced to a single meaning that make this Tijdsbeeld by Kristien Hemmerechts so recognisable and intriguing.

In bronze, Barry Racon translates that tension into a silent yet enduring presence. A sculpture that offers no definitive answers, but instead invites us to keep looking and searching for what moves people.