Dean Maassen

“When Perception Becomes Form”uses 3D software and 3D printing to represent the experiences and self-perceptions of resilient people through abstract sculptural forms.

“At night the goats still cry”

different viewpoints of the sculpture

“When Perception Becomes Form” is a multimedia work that has been created in collaboration with people from Vienna and my hometown Wiesbaden since 2021.

The focus of my work is on human resilience, coping with and overcoming challenging life circumstances and still emerging strengthened. Individuals from my personal environment have talked to me about their healing from mental illnesses. I have worked in a Viennese institute with a focus on psychoses, whose patients have also contributed to this project. In consultation, I created 3D models of my conversation partners by 3D scanning them and altering their digital portrayals in such a way that the resulting sculptures reflect people‘s perceptions of themselves through their lived experiences. Although the resulting sculptures are abstract in their outcome, a human origin of the forms can always be recognised from a certain angle.