Islands is a series of sculptures showing miniature snapshots of life. Isolated pieces of land,
that look like they were wrenched from the earth by some force of nature, are floating through
nowhere. All that is left is a random group of living beings who do their best to survive.
Every creature on our planet is permanently confronted with life itself and all its challenges. As
people we need to handle various tasks each day, from work to shopping, from entertainment
to basic needs. All these individual situations are mostly limited to a very small physical and
social environment. We might meet as a group but only be able to talk to one person; we
might work for a global company but sit in a little office. We might watch a soccer game in
a huge stadium but not be recognised by anyone. Our own subjective world is little. We will
never be able to absorb everything at the same time as we are lost in limitation. To make
this circumstance visible I created islands. It can be seen as a 3-dimensional cartoon, telling
stories that are sometimes absurd, sometimes funny and sometimes shocking and sad. The
isolation and limitation of the playground is shifting everything into something essential.
Each island almost feels like a riddle, as if there is something that must be solved – the
challenge of life.
The unusual occurrences on the islands offer a lot of freedom for interpretations or speculations. The miniature scenes force us to come close, to see, to explore and to experience. They turn us into huge beings, put us in a superior role outside of the islands, and make us want to help or to flee.
Figure 1: Parasite, sculpture from the recent series entitled Islands.
Figure 2: Overview, sculpture from the recent series entitled Islands.
Figure 3: Exile, sculpture from the recent series entitled Islands.
Figure 4: Treasure, sculpture from the recent series entitled Islands.
Markus Hofko was born in Augsburg, Germany. Markus is also known as The Rainbowmonkey and has been an artist his whole life long. After his early experiences in painting, drawing and photography he finally found his way to a field in which he could use all these skills when he studied Communication Design at the University of Augsburg, Germany. He has been working in Auckland, New Zealand since 2007. His work can be accessed through www.rainbowmonkey.de where an overview is available.