Manuel Ursprung is a German-born, British-based artist whose sculptural reliefs trace a path from delicate plaster imprints to tactile works in latex. Ursprung’s practice draws on travel and memory to explore the tension between containment and emergence, reimagining the relationship between surface, form and becoming.
ArtEvol 2025 / Manuel Ursprung
Under the Skin , 2025 Wood, polystyrene, latex 75 × 75 × 14 cm
Artwork Introduction Under the Skin explores the psychological and emotional act of breaking free from the body, social conditioning and systems that suppress individuality. The work comprises a grid of sculpted forms pressing against a membrane of latex, capturing the moment before rupture, a state of tension, resistance and potential transformation. The stretched latex becomes a second skin, both intimate and alienating. It represents the pressure to conform to aesthetic ideals, digital identities and outdated social norms. Rounded, irregular protrusions suggest something human trying to emerge, not yet fully formed, but already refusing to remain hidden. The piece reflects a desire to shed what no longer serves—fear, toxic relationships and imposed expectations—and to step into an undefined, more honest self. The materials contrast the softness and flexibility of latex with the rigid structure beneath, mirroring the friction between vulnerability and control. Under the Skin invites the viewer to sit with ambiguity and witness a moment of becoming that is raw, unresolved and deeply necessary.
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