Breath of a Vessel No. 1, 2025
Obergfell's work explores cultural symbols and signs, tracing how their meanings shift over time. Impermanence is central to his practice, expressed through a process of layering cultural forms and symbols—metaphorically likening this process to the geology of sedimentary strata accumulating over time. Time is fundamental to his work, marking the passage of history and the continuity of human experience. While technology advances, core human needs—community, sustenance, and meaning—remain unchanged. Obergfell engages with this tension by referencing the past through archaic forms and employing détournement to reinterpret and generate new meaning. The work exists between past and present, evolving, questioning, and revealing new understandings of power, displacement, and resilience.
Obergfell works across clay, wood, metal, and stone—materials foundational to human technological development and markers of different historical epochs. His choices reference the “three ages” system—Stone, Bronze, and Iron—while incorporating wood as an equally significant component. This selection reinforces the work’s connection to the natural world, which, like time, remains constant. By integrating traditional handcrafting techniques with contemporary methods such as 3D printing and G-code driven machining, his process creates a dialogue between historical and modern approaches.
At its core, Obergfell's work seeks to momentarily pull the viewer outside of themselves, fostering an awareness of impermanence and a deeper connection to the passage of time.