Almost Human

The sculptures, each with their own color and pattern, symbolize diversity and individuality. Their arms and hands invite connection and interaction.
Yet they remain ambiguous: they appear human, but they are not.

 In Almost Human, the artist explores the boundaries between the familiar and the unknown. The sculpture, a ceramic vase adorned with hands, seems playful and inviting at first glance. Each small figure carries its own color and pattern, creating a vivid whole that emphasizes diversity and individuality.

The little hands reaching outward suggest contact, exchange, and closeness. They seem to want to touch or greet us, as if a conversation in gestures is beginning to unfold.

And yet, the work raises questions. The figures approach the human form but lack precisely what would make them truly human. Their body language is recognizable, but their presence remains ambiguous, almost otherworldly. They balance between empathy and distance, between recognition and alienation.

Almost Human invites the viewer to reflect on what it means to perceive—or to believe in—humanity within forms that lie just beyond our own reality.

Almost Human is on view @ Valcke Art Gallery in Ghent (B) from 24 January till 7 March 2026.

Valcke Art Gallery, Bernard Spaelaan 14, 9000 Ghent, Belgium, +32 (0) 497593319, johan.valcke@telenet.be Open: Friday + Saturday 14:00 – 18:00 hrs and with appointment. www.valcke-artgallery.be