Light and shadow

Eduardo Chillida’s artistic oeuvre is characterized by his powerful, monumental sculptures, which are often made of solid materials such as steel, iron or concrete. Chillida is known for his ability to harmonize form and emptiness, making "material weight" appear weightless. Chillida's early works are strongly inspired by traditional Basque culture and landscape. He later developed his own abstract style, influenced by modern philosophical concepts, especially existentialist ideas about space, time and the nature of matter. For him, space is not only matter but also a metaphor for the individual's relationship to the environment and to other people.

The Graphic Collection of the Landesmuseum Mainz also holds works by Chillida. Embossed prints create individual shapes that play with the two-dimensionality of the paper. The incidence of light creates a similar effect to the felt object.