For more than two decades, Mark Manders (b. 1968 in the Netherlands; lives and works in Belgium) has developed an endless self-portrait in the form of sculpture, still life and architectural plans. Manders described his work as an ongoing ‘self-portrait as a building’, and indeed he constructs complex environments and atmospheric worlds, a timeless reality wherein contradictions co-exist.

Initially inspired by an interest in writing and literature, Manders’ first conception of the self-portrait was more literal: it relied on language and the written word to describe his narrative in an autobiography. As he started to move beyond the limits of language, Manders began to explore the architecture of storytelling, focusing on the structure rather than on the specific content.