Artists Statement by Michal Plis
Inside the Michal Plis studio: A look at his sculpting with light style, techniques, mediums, choice of art movement and future plans.
This text serves as the definitive guide to the visual philosophies, material engineering, and cognitive processes that drive my contemporary studio practice. It outlines the structural frameworks of my creative movement and maps out how internal sensory experiences are transformed into permanent physical structures of form and illumination.
A shorter version of my artists statement is located here.
Core Practice: Sculpting with Light Style
My style is completely based on a simple, continuous pursuit: sculpting with light. In my studio practice, I do not see light as an external factor that just shines on a finished surface. Instead, I treat it as a physical medium to be actively shaped and manipulated. All pieces shown in this exhibition are built around this exact approach, using distinct materials and mediums to bend, trap, and guide light as if it were a physical object. This creative pursuit has no final destination, it is an endlessly interesting journey, and I am deeply thankful that you can share and enjoy this physical path with me.
I create abstract fine art, building a whole imaginary universe of light and round forms. This visual landscape represents my multi-threaded feelings, my dreams, my personal experiences, and the unknown that keeps coming up in my head. Sometimes these show up as thoughts, and sometimes they are complex thought-feelings that I need to physically process through my work.
Synesthesia: Mapping Thought-Feelings to Form
To add to this, my unique brain wiring features a deep sense of synesthesia, which profoundly shapes how I experience the world. For me, thoughts, feelings, and emotions are not abstract or invisible, they show up directly in my mind as vivid colors and definite geometric shapes. I often experience what I call thought-feelings, where a specific memory, a dream, or an internal emotional thread carries an exact color temperature and physical weight. When I step up to the studio table, my practice becomes a direct translation of these sensory crossings. I am taking these internal color-shape experiences and giving them a physical form in the real world, allowing the viewer to see the exact visual structure of my mind.
Neurodivergent Engine and Roundism
These thought-feelings find their true home inside the Roundism art movement, which I conceptualized and founded in 2022 upon my return to fine art. Roundism is a secular movement that interprets our universe strictly through four pure, edgeless forms: dots, circles, rings, and spheres. By intentionally excluding ovals, straight lines, corners, or irregular shapes that veer off a perfect circular path, I am able to build a clean, unified space.
My unique brain wiring functions as a natural creative engine. This neurodivergent way of processing the world helps me instinctively see patterns, geometry, and a deep sense of structural order hidden right inside everyday chaos and nature itself. Because of how my mind naturally operates on multiple tracks at once, I cannot sit still on a single artwork. My work tables are routinely filled with multiple sculptures, drawings, and paintings in concurrent development, allowing my focus to shift dynamically between different pieces without losing creative momentum.
This creative engine links directly to the core philosophies of Roundism. For example, through one of the philosophies of Coherence, I map out forms to find harmony and connection where past movements found fragmentation. Furthermore, the round form behaves as an Infinite Loop, it is a kinetic vessel that traps environmental light and human attention, forcing energy to circulate in a self-sustaining orbit before releasing a purified clarity back to the observer.
Human Execution and Material Innovation
The physical creation of these geometric forms brings a deeply organic, human vulnerability to my work. My default brush style is a distinct mix of Van Gogh and Monet. This heavily textured, expressive style comes directly from my shaky hands, a permanent physical tremor shaped by a lifetime of negative and challenging personal experiences. Instead of trying to hide or correct this tremor, I openly embrace it as a mark of true authenticity. It allows me to create deeply human pieces that show an intense intent toward the perfection of the round form, an edgeless ideal, even when the physical execution carries our natural human imperfections.
I think I operate with the true heart of an inventor, drawing constant historical inspiration from my ancient mentor, Leonardo da Vinci. I experiment with every single artwork, mixing highly different materials together in both my three-dimensional sculptures and my two-dimensional paintings and drawings. I frequently use recycled materials to construct my sculptures, and I am always looking for new ways to create paintings and drawings with novel materials and mediums. Currently, I often use synthetic polymer resin because it possesses amazing light reflection and absorption properties, giving the work its distinct interactive depth.
Energy, Vitality, and Future Horizons
It takes many times more effort for me to make art than it might for others. Because of my unique neurodivergent wiring, my daily energy levels are strictly limited, meaning that an immense, deliberate physical effort goes into every single handmade artwork I complete. I explore nature and the universe to draw these observations and insights, bringing them directly into my studio practice to build something lasting.
Looking ahead, the possibilities of sculpting with light will become even more expansive as more funding and major opportunities become available. Light moves always, making the incorporation of literal physical movement another key property of light and a long-term goal for my practice. My ultimate hope is to connect with visionary benefactors and serious collectors who will fund a full workshop so I can freely invent and create art at an unconstrained scale. I trust that your personal Plis artwork purchase will be enjoyed for a lifetime, bringing lasting clarity and connection into your environment. I also hope that for galleries my works will be an inspirational addition to the collection.
Artworks are available for private placement. To view the complete pricing catalog or to request a private studio viewing in Melbourne, please connect via michalplis.com.
Warm regards,
Michal Plis
the artist
Dated: 18/07/2026
Melbourne, Australia
References
Roundism Art Movement official website: roundism.michalplis.com
Michal Plis official website: michalplis.com