Simon Manoha

Kopfschmerzen (Headache)

Simon Manoha has created a series of works that resonate with nature. One could say they are nature itself, since all materials, forms, and meanings are drawn from it.

Kopfschmerzen is a tribute to the philosophy of Emmanuel Lévinas. For Lévinas, the Other is not something that the self can possess or control absolutely; it is a gift that manifests itself as radically different and unique. For this project, Simon Manoha has used natural materials and forms that allude to the concept of acceptance. He collects clay, stones, and sand from the river and the mountains, in order to make a clay that reflects his natural environment. He then develops glazes with ashes from indigenous plants and crashed minerals. As such, the end-result is a gift of nature, over which the artist has no absolute control the work reflects natures and has been shaped by it.