Born in Medellín, Colombia, Esteban Patino is an Atlanta-based artist whose latest body of work, Shapeshifter, explores the deconstruction of meaning. The building blocks of his compositions are invented symbols that resemble language yet resist being read as such. Across these works, forms shift and dissolve into a liminal, indeterminate space, with fragments occasionally reappearing as recognizable figures—owls, crabs, hands.
Moving fluidly between simple shape, sign, and sculptural presence, the work probes how meaning is constructed and where it begins.
“Does form come before shape?” Esteban asks. “Can a single shape carry the meaning of an entire message? Perhaps not. In the end, the attempt to fully translate form into language may be futile—and that is precisely where the work resides.”
"Single Shape System 001," acrylic on wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Single Shape System 005," acrylic on wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Single Shape System 006," acrylic on wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Single Shape System, Natural 02," wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Single Shape System, Natural 01," wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Night Owl," acrylic on canvas, 30 by 30 inches
"Hungry Hippos," acrylic on canvas, 30 by 30 inches
"Schläger," acrylic on canvas, 30 by 30 inches
"Shapeshifter," acrylic on canvas, 30 by 30 inches
"Single Shape System 002," acrylic on wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Single Shape System 004," acrylic on wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Single Shape System 003," acrylic on wood, 23 by 23 by 3.5 inches
"Sisyphus," acrylic on panel, 60 by 60 inches
"Baldessari Dot (Red)," acrylic on canvas, 30 by 30 inches
"Baldessari Dot (Blue)," acrylic on canvas, 30 by 30 inches
"Heaps of Language (pink)," plexiglass, 13 by 8 by 8 inches
"Heaps of Language (clear)," plexiglass, 13 by 8 by 8 inches
"Heaps of Language," plexiglass, 8 by 5 by 5 inches each
Born in Medellín, Colombia, Esteban Patino is an Atlanta-based artist whose work explores the multitudes of language creation and perception. Spanning sculpture, collage, painting and murals, the concepts of transmission, reception, communication vs. miscommunication, and semiotics permeate his work. In order to consider these questions he created a system of symbols that are based on 6 characters, each of which rotate on their own axis 4 times to make a total of 24 characters. With these shapes—which are an alphabet that creates the illusion of language—he plays with word structures by creating palindromes, speech bubbles, heaps of language, and metaphors to represent how we understand written and spoken language.Aesthetically, each iteration of Esteban’s language study is distinct: his sculptures are sinuous sentinels, seeking symbolic approximation to atemporality and the possibility of universal shapes; his collages are humanoid bricolages, amorphous inquisitive monsters that portray the complexities of time and human existence; his paintings are deeply intuitive forms that awaken on the canvas, often drawing on the colors and landscapes of his native Colombia. However distinct, these styles are deeply in concert with one another—forming his praxis and pushing to (re)consider the multifarious nature of words as symbols with infinite idiosyncratic interpretations.
AVAILABLE WORKS