Sophie

Daniel Firman

With his eye-popping sculptures, Daniel Firman freezes moments of time and action in precarious balance. Nasutamanus epitomizes the concerns and methods of his practice; it is a taxidermied elephant that seems to float weightlessly in the gallery space, attached only to the wall by its trunk. In this as in all of his works, Firman seeks to construct the presence of such amorphous concepts as time, balance, weight, action, and gravity. Other sculptures include human figures struck in precarious poses or supporting unwieldy constructions atop their shoulders. “I demand much effort of my models in order that they remain immobile until they are exhausted, and it is with this approach to time that I create sculpture,” he says. Always focused on the body, Firman has also explored performance art—including choreographed works in which he constructs enclosures around himself—and crafted immersive, overwhelming sound installations of “Drone Music.”