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Equator of the Mind (1996)

Material: Red Copper, anodized Aluminum, cloth, casting resin
Size: 6.5 meters by 4.5 meters. Figure on the floor is full sized.

In this emblematic work a balance and its scales represent the world as it has spread out in our minds as a map. In this world the equator has been lost. When we are out of balance and temporary business dominates eternal things, the balance strikes out towards the temporal, where we search for meaning and inspiration. While a divine intervention comes in view as a third scale from the right in this picture that shows us the equator of our minds. She can offer us self-understanding if we would turn around and look at where we came from. That we are all created from the divine, whence the vertical light pillars on the left scale help us not to lose sight of our our eternal goals.

Famke van Wijk

“The sculptures and installations of Famke van Wijk are closely and easily associated with philosophy – one would be inclined to say that in her case thoughts are expressed and made concrete in the form of pictures. Famke van Wijk articulates the knowledge of freedom in her works – this was manifest in the exposition about Spinoza in Amsterdam and Paris; she related this knowledge directly to the man whose life, his most immediate existence as well as his vulnerability , palpitate in her work.

There is the general impression which is given, and there is the reflection which follows from it. What is more, the sculptures of Famke van Wijk attract our attention by the way in which the materials are treated; with their consistency and the effect this produces.’ De steen vliegt’ , still in connection with Spinoza; in the case of Famke van Wijk, there is lightness and there is also strength and power in an art which is both expressive and refined.”

Lucien Kayser.