This is the realm of Gargoyles, the grotesque stone creatures that adorn medieval cathedrals. They belong to those fantastic figures people have conjured since the mists of time to represent demons and evil spirits. Stephen Sack photographed them from a distance. He developed the negatives, put them under a microscope, and then focused on these fantastic creatures to photograph them again in enlarged guised. They no longer appear like monsters from the past, but intermix with the photographic grain; they are not illusory now, but conjure a host of allusions and associations.

All of a sudden, the spectator sees no mere allegories of the past in these abstract monsters, but reflections of his inner unfathomable depths. They function as fixed points to summon one’s own visions in the perceptible world. As such, they resume their function of old: artistic forms that evoke forms of the unconscious from the deep chasms of the unknown. Art is again in its element, inquiring and giving form to inner representation and structures – in the on-going creative process that turns visual concepts into images which in turn crystallize the stream of consciousness. Art as a means for gauging and shaping the quintessential, inner meaning of life to be contemplated by mankind.

Father Friedhelm Mennekes – Kunst-Station Sainkt Peters : Koln