Alwin Dorok — Geometric Magazine

About

Alwin Dorok (b. 1961, Wattenscheid, Germany) trained as a painter from 1977 to 1980 and has worked as a freelance artist since 1984. He has been a member of the artist group gruppe konkret since 2021.

Very early on, Dorok asked himself the fundamental question of what makes a picture a picture, or what painting is, and came to the conclusion that any type of painting, regardless of content or style, can be reduced to three elements: form, colour and characteristic style.

Since 2016 he has been taking completely new paths in his rust paintings as well as in his works on paper. The square is now at the centre of the image creation. It doubles, increases or decreases progressively, is reflected in positive and negative forms. Squares are moved parallel, have a metric relationship to neighbouring surfaces, are folded or rotate.

Colour also takes on new significance. It is now in tension with the rust surfaces and its application is conceptual. He chooses the pure pigments thematically. Series are created with cobalt, ultramarine, oxide and ochre pigments or coloured earths. An autonomous art made of geometry, colour and material.

Alwin Dorok

Q & A

Is geometry a constraint or a freedom for you — and has that answer ever changed?

For many years, I have focused on the square and shapes derived from it, and I am constantly amazed by the variety of possibilities.

Walk us through your process — where does a piece begin, and how do you know it's finished?

The picture always begins with an idea; the source of that idea varies. The picture is finished when it fulfills the expectations associated with that idea.

Is there something outside of art — a system, structure, or phenomenon — that quietly shapes how you think about form?

I engage extensively with geometric and scientific phenomena.

What does a viewer miss when they see your work as 'just geometry'?

The sensuality of the colors and the texture of the painting, as well as the aura created by the sum of all these factors.

What's the last rule you set for yourself in the work, and did you keep it?

I couldn't say.

Describe a failure or a dead end in your practice — something that didn't work.

These are usually minor details; when something doesn't work, I keep experimenting until, as a rule, it does.