Temporal Drift (coral, leaf, cactus) at Art Basel Unlimited
We are delighted to join Claudia Comte for her presentation at Art Basel Unlimited.
Claudia Comte’s Temporal Drift (coral, leaf, cactus) marks a pivotal moment in her practice: This immersive installation features a monumental curved wall with undulating black-and-white patterns inspired by oceanic rhythms, paired with three marble sculptures – a coral, leaf, and cactus. Created through carving and 3D milling they encapsulate her career-long fascination with the transformation of materials and the dialogue between natural forms and human intervention. Positioned within Comte’s exploration of ecological and temporal themes, the work challenges viewers to reconsider their relationship with the natural world and its enduring histories, forming a powerful contribution to Art Basel Unlimited.
Temporal Drift (coral, leaf, cactus), is a new installation in Comte’s ongoing series of freestanding wall paintings, deepening her exploration of patterns found in natures and in interplay with three large marble sculptures that evolved out of it. These highly complex geometric designs, often reminiscent of waves, sonar frequencies, and rock strata, are the result of both aesthetic and scientific inquiry. Meticulously translated from digital renderings to tangible surfaces using a painstaking vinyl masking technique, the monumental curved wall in this installation features a black-and-white matrix of intensely undulating lines. Evoking oceanic rhythms, pulses, and flows, the intricate pattern creates an illusion of depth and volume, while the curvature of the wall further amplifies its sculptural presence.
Three large cutouts punctuate the wall’s surface, functioning as life-sized voids that mirror the forms of three marble sculptures in the installation—a coral, a leaf, and a cactus. These openings reveal the wall’s internal structure and act as passageways, inviting visitors to move through them and experience the installation from within.
The marble sculptures, whose organic forms are emblematic of Comte’s distinctively idiosyncratic style, are created through a sophisticated process that begins with wood and incorporates carving, 3D scanning, milling, and polishing. Using marble—a material formed over millions of years from ancient ocean beds, where layers of marine sediment are compressed under immense heat and pressure—Comte highlights the temporal depth encoded in the stone. This geological archive serves as a medium for reflecting on the vast timescales that shape the natural world and on humanity’s relatively brief yet impactful presence within it. The permanence of the marble contrasts with the vulnerability of the ecosystems symbolised by the coral, leaf, and cactus. The result is a provocation as to how we perceive and engage with the natural systems that sustain life.
Temporal Drift (coral, leaf, cactus) positions the viewer within a nexus of historical, ecological, and material references, dissolving the boundaries between sculpture, architecture, and painting. The exhibition space becomes a site of layered exploration, where natural forms and constructed patterns coalesce. Through this synthesis, Comte invites audiences to reflect on humanity’s entanglement with the natural world and the enduring histories encoded within its materials.