Kohlben Vodden "Red Sebastian" Limited Edition

Kohlben Vodden "Red Sebastian" 2021

Giclée Print
Dimensions: 25 x 25in 
Limited Edition of 100
Signed on verso, includes a certificate of authenticity. 

Kohlben Vodden is an Australian-born artist living and working in London, UK. Vodden combines traditional mediums such as oil paint with unexpected techniques such as such as hard-edge geometric, with colour field to create original and intensely colourful abstracted contemporary portraits. Vodden’s work has been included in private and public exhibitions in Berlin, Brussels, London, Milan, and New York. His unique take on contemporary portraiture has also found him featured in contemporary art and culture publications including  British Vogue, Create! Magazine, Artist Talk Magazine, Juturna Male Art Magazine, and his art was featured on the digital cover of The Untitled Magazine's May 2023 issue.

As an artist, I’m obsessed with psychology. I’m particularly fascinated with the concept of identity and its layers of complexity. Through my practice, I explore stories that reveal themselves in the dissonance between how a person internally defines themselves versus the version of themselves they craft for the world to see. It is in these stories that we learn what it means to be human. To reveal the hidden stories, I embark on a deep process of connection, deconstruction, and reconstruction. To connect, I engage directly with the subject, asking questions about how they define their inward identity. I then explore their outward identity such as the physical features others believe define the subject. Enlightened with these psychological insights, I use them to fuel a deconstruction process of the subject’s image. Engaging in a deep meditative-like analysis of the face, I identify geometric shapes, symbols, and patterns that are hidden to the casual observer. Finally, I reconstruct their image creating a completely new visual story of their identity. Working in oil with a bold palette, my work employs insights from Neuroaesthetics to command the eye's attention and intentionally stimulate an unusual combination of psychological 'rewards' including a release of dopamine, a chemical linked to feelings of sex and love, and the activation of the cultural region of the brain that seeks patterns, shapes, and other visual attributes that give it 'meaning' and make them feel more connected to the piece. It is through this intimate process that the viewer experiences the story of the subject’s identity.