Nicolas Pelzer. Photo by Silke Briel, 2026.

Interview with Nicolas Pelzer
By Tula Plumi

TP: Hi Nicolas, how are preparations going for your solo exhibition at fiebach, minninger? Could you share a bit about what you’ll be showing?

NP: Hi Tula, I am currently in the final stage of completing the works. This time, I deliberately gave myself far more time for their development than usual. This was because I had started testing a new medium. Lots of playing without knowing what it could be.

For the upcoming solo exhibition, I will be presenting two bodies of work. The first consists of new additions to my ongoing series Evolving Masters (2015–ongoing). The new light sculptures are freestanding rather than hanging. The second is a new series entitled Stubborn Promises (2026), which also serves as the title of the exhibition. It is essentially watercolor on plotted paper.

Evolving Masters #29, 2026. Anodized aluminum, cable, lamp socket, LED bulb, electrical plug, screws, wood. 57 x 40 x 34 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

TP: Could you tell us more about the Evolving Masters series? How long have you been developing it, and what are the main ideas behind it? I find them incredibly fascinating—the way the metal sculptures are distorted yet still retain figurative elements like the hands. Also, the addition of light adds a second powerful layer.

NP: I have been continuously developing it since 2015. It is the longest-running series in my artistic practice so far. Its production involves several different stages, including digital development, industrial manufacturing processes, and hands-on physical manipulation. I think it is precisely the interplay between these different stages, and the challenge of juggling factors that are both within and beyond my control, that makes the process so interesting to me. But the final result mostly follows impulses on a material level.

With the element of light, illumination itself is actually not the primary aspect for me. Rather, the light source embodies a living element that exists in a continuously operational, almost restless state.

I cannot say exactly why this particular series has remained so important to me, nor can I say how much longer it will continue. Both its form and context remain relevant to me, though. The hand is not only a visible but also a thematically central element that runs through the series. I am interested in the human hand in dialogue with technology. More specifically, I see the hand as a kind of interface connecting our thinking with the technical world around us.

Consider the development of technology as a form of evolution running parallel to that of the human body. We can trace its remarkable and exponential development from the first prehistoric tools, such as chipped stone tools, to the present day. Over time, the hand has behaved and functioned differently through its use of objects that it itself created. This is something I seek to express through the series.

Evolving Masters #22, 2024. Anodized aluminum, cable, lamp socket, LED bulb, screws, steel wire. 65 x 84 x 70 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

TP: Does the dialogue with technology also appear in the Stubborn Promises series?  The works have patterns that somehow refer to use — is that the case?  Why Stubborn Promises by the way? It’s an interesting and playful title.

NP: The works are interpretations of constructive elements translated into the medium of watercolor on paper. The cut-outs and contours refer to the forms of various types of so-called metal joining plates used in crafts and construction. With their layout of holes, these metal plates allow structural parts to be assembled in various ways.

On the one hand, they are rather banal, purely functional objects. On the other hand, I find their functional claim interesting: each form offers a solution that promises to accommodate all possible ways of coming together, almost a solution for everything. This suggests a sense of apparent freedom emerging from within a fixed and unchangeable structure. With the title “Stubborn Promises”, I wanted to both convey and question this notion.

Stubborn Promises #1, 2026. Watercolor and gouache on paper. 28 × 22 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

TP: A promise of freedom that emerges from a fixed stubborn structure, that’s interesting. What do you think about technology nowadays and the use of AI in contemporary art?

NP: At the moment, these developments have certainly become noticeable on the surface of everyday life, but when it comes to the ideas behind them, I do not feel that they have introduced anything fundamentally new. Throughout history, new inventions have challenged existing media and transformed artistic tools. However, whether artists choose to keep up with these developments on a technical level or choose not to, I think the process itself will inevitably give rise to new sensibilities. Existing media will be redefined and reinvented accordingly, just as every era has found its own new forms of expression.

TP: Are there any books or sources that have inspired your work overall?

NP: One early inspiration for my work was the phenomenon of negative handprints found in prehistoric caves around the world. Their meaning remains ambiguous to this day, while their presence is so immediate and physical. Formally, I am fascinated by how they bring figuration and imprint together. They present the hand through its absence, while evoking a message that could be read as “I am here!” I think this tension between manifestation and trace is a recurring element in many of my works, not only in the cut-outs that I frequently use.

TP: How do you approach this tension between manifestation and trace in other works?

NP: Here, this ambiguity is not immediately visible, but unfolds through the circumstances surrounding them. The Unused Five (2019) for example, involves an elaborate technical process. First, I 3D-scanned and enlarged my clipped fingernails from one hand. These were then 3D-printed, casted again and finally arranged into an installation setting. Another work, Nervous Pickers (2021), features a highly enlarged, chewed, and partially broken toothpick. By making the smallest scratches and irregularities visible through this dramatic enlargement, the objects also take on a kind of abstraction through scale.

Both objects are a kind of tools. And their forms come from traces of physical actions. They suggest the human body, which is now absent. They are by-products of use and stand for processes of wear and tear. With them, I hope to reveal something about our current way of living and forms of labour.

The Unused Five, 2019. Polymer-modified plaster, pigment, plastic chair. Dimensions variable. Image courtesy of gallery fiebach, minninger. Photo: Martin Plüddemann.

Nervous Pickers, 2021. Polylactide (PLA), lacquer. Dimensions variable. Photo: Hermes Villena.

TP: When does the exhibition at fiebach, minninger open? Are you excited? This is your fourth solo show at the gallery, right?

NP: The exhibition opens on September 4 during Düsseldorf Cologne Open Galleries (DC Open). I have been working closely with the gallery in Cologne for almost ten years now. During this time, I had the opportunity to develop several exhibition concepts and experiment with different installation settings in their space. I am particularly looking forward to seeing how these new works will articulate together.