In De Statua around 1430 Bastida Leon Alberti described for the first time clearly the difference between two directions in sculpture: modelling in plaster, wax or clay, or cutting in stone. Modellers are working by adding material, which causes the object increase in volume and slowly but surely take form. Sculptors in the literal sense of the word take away material with the aid of tools, which creates the image. It seems as if the intended shape is hidden inside a rough block of stone. As a sculptor Michelangelo talked about a figure which is imprisoned in every stone, which he wanted to liberate and bring in contact with the outside world. Rodin went a step further by wanting to visualise this dynamic life in the skin of his sculptures.

Sjaak van Rhijn also assumes that there is something hidden in a piece of stone that is not yet visible when he begins. However, he is not concerned with a figure or some other form of life which could be situated below the surface. He is seeking a form or structure which is hidden deep down in the stone. For Sjaak van Rhijn the challenge is to make the hidden form visible in a sculpture. Often he will be guided by the structure or physical form of the chosen stone. This is fine with the idea that in each stone there is something hidden. The choice of a certain type of stone is the very beginning and assumes, not only a certain hardness or structure but also a certain colour and surface. The intrinsic structure of the stone is revealed by the artist in a work of art. Direction and sharpness of lines and forms are largely determined by the chosen material. However, the most important material in Sjaak van Rhijn’s work is light. This is in many of his sculptures a constant, identifiable factor. Light reveals not only the natural surface of the stone and the forms made visible by the artist, but in a certain number of works the light directs the sculptor in his way of working. Light is then his starting point.

Depending on the selected material, light stays trapped for example on the surface, where the interplay of light and shadow shows a relief which is comparable to a landscape in miniature. However, light can penetrate certain stones, centimeters deep and the irregular surface is gets a bit dazed, details and shadows almost disappear and the bright colour of the stone predominates. In all of his sculptures Sjaak van Rhijn explicitly uses the specific properties of the chosen material. For example, slate has a dull grey colour as well as naturally layered structure which shows on the outside of its internal structure. Nevertheless, sharp forms can also be made in slate; their simplicity and gray surface create a contrast with the natural variety elsewhere on the stone. In one sculpture two different aspects of the same material are in this way made visible by the artist. Light reinforces these differences.

Sjaak van Rhijn works with Belgian slate and especially with French limestone. Depending on the kind of limestone the material is sometimes of a homogeneous colour and texture and seems by its soft surface appearance to be modelled by the fingers rather than by chisels. In its gentle sloping plasticity the skin seems rather that of the human body than that of a relatively hard stone. Again sunlight reinforces these impressions when it can penetrate the surface more or less which seemingly deprives the stone of its material properties. The effect of light can also be manipulated, that is by adding forms or elements. This may be, for example, using different materials in one sculpture where a fascinating contrast of light, and intensity arises across contours. Sjaak van Rhijn works also with other forms of relief, such as with pieces of slate on steel legs which are placed side by side. Depending on shape and direction, there emerges a spatial pattern which as pursued by the artist. The density of these elements, the distance between them and their size, together they all determine the plastic effect of the incidence of the incoming light. In this the artist is the director. The foundation, whether white limestone or painted plywood, is explicitely related to the impact of the relief in question. The distance between the particles determines the share of that background in the total work of art. Condensing creates a sort of floating form which, as in the earlier mentioned more massive forms in stone, seems to convert itself smoothly into the mass of the flat foundation.

Different from the earlier sculptures, here we can speak of the merging of different kinds of stone. It looks almost like a drawing. Not coincidentally Sjaak van Rhijn has also depicted this type of work on paper, in which the spatial component, is being defeated by the clearly defined shapes and patterns. The different components dominate at the expense of the convex or concave form which is suggested by the relief. The previous principal role of the light has become transitory. Expressive plastic shapes become flat surfaces. Works on paper and in stone are hierarchical; they are fully independant and tell each in their own way the influence of light.

Hans Vogels, 2002
Curator museumgoudA