Art departs from reality, adding a distinct dimension to it… that of its creator. In doing so, David Vanorbeek creates a new world, inhabited by beings living a new lease of life covered in a different skin, the skin of the inanimate. David literally strips his creatures of all skin, retaining only the very essence. In his skilful hands, twined iron and bronze wire twists into a compact assemblage. "Back to nature" serves as the basic idea for his creatures. His flies, wasps, bats, grasshoppers, frogs, rats… evolve in an environment in which they conquered a place. Vanorbeek makes time stand still. His creatures undergo the effects of time; by being exposed to air and light they transform gradually. The metamorphosis that makes the colours change implies a new life. Time helps the artist to achieve the most unpredictable results: still life placed as free elements in an environment. Precisely that environment determines the dimension in which the art of Vanorbeek feels most at ease. It makes the observer question some specific values of the artist’s work, constantly balancing between creation and decoration, life and death, fear and humour. The art of Vanorbeek is no copy of what we see but rather a reduction of facts to their essential form: a skeleton in iron and bronze wire, without structural details but assembled into a totality by way of association. The serial character adds a conceptual touch to his work, especially prior to its being put outside. The "Back to nature" thought is also obvious in the use of the materials. Plain recycled steel wire, made flexible and processed into a three-dimensional pencil stroke. The work of Vanorbeek becomes a twiddle of lines with no end or beginning. It seems as if light and darkness, transparency and compactness contribute to the graphical aspect, as in writing. By constantly repeating the same style within the same theme, the artist slowly but surely creates his own world. Out of this, the observer extracts a childlike pleasure: the confrontation with a disproportional reality; a reality that enforces respect. Just for once, you cannot crush the ant or the spider under your feet. "Back to nature" is also a synonym for "respect for life". In this way, Vanorbeek is a classic artist, who departs from reality while also respecting it and who adds his own vision of the present. Thus the overall artistic feeling is inevitably inherent. David Vanorbeek, autodidact, geboren op 30 december 1968 te Leuven - Belgie, woont en werkt in Zuid-Frankrijk. Ik maak sculpturen in metaal, waarbij het in het gebruik steeds om gerecycleerde materialen gaat. Bvb. insecten-sculpturen in ijzerdraad, de spandraden die ik recupereer vanuit de wijnvelden. Hoewel ik me tegenwoordig meer op het abstracte in mijn werk richt, blijft mijn liefde voor de insectenwereld zeer groot.