Published By Cleartwo
4th August 2024
3:05 PMDuring a recent trip to Japan, artist Joseph Töreki frequently encountered “these absolutely perfect fruits, like flawless melons and grapes.” These fresh picks were not only visually striking to him but also represented “a form of art and craft.” This exposure to perfect produce inspired his latest artistic focus on everyday food items. Joseph reflects, “This led me to wonder if there is such a thing as going beyond perfection. While we often strive for the ideal and the flawless, true perfection is nearly impossible in the real world, unlike in the digital realm!”
Fascinated by the forms and characteristics of these fruits, Joseph has turned his attention to more commonly overlooked snacks, zooming in on their “essence” and exploring their “subtle details.” He ponders questions like, “What is the essence of a raspberry?” and while the answer remains uncertain, he imagines what the most perfect version might look like. Joseph’s primary interest, however, lies in exploring how much he can “abstract a real object without losing a sense of realism.” This aligns with his recent focus on “how much information is necessary to convey a realistic image while still preserving its natural beauty.”
You might think of fruits as simple, humble objects, but artist Joseph Töreki reveals that he “spent countless hours finding the perfect shape” for his digital renders. He emphasises, “the devil was really in the details here!” Through this meticulous process, Joseph learned a valuable lesson familiar to many creatives, but often realised the hard way: “simplicity often involves a tremendous amount of effort and precision.”
These detailed works represent a new evolution in Joseph’s artistic journey, blending his expertise in 3D and digital media. His approach retains the craftsmanship and care of his previous work in ceramics and glass, creating what he describes as a “symbiotic relationship” where the two practices “work together seamlessly.” For Joseph, his exploration isn’t confined to the physical realm; it’s deeply integrated into his digital process as well. He explains, “I create many of my own textures using photometric scans of real physical materials. This is a fairly involved process, requiring photos to be taken from multiple angles, which are then processed into textures using an algorithm.” Despite the complexity, Joseph believes the effort is entirely worthwhile: “This allows me to explore aspects that would be challenging or impossible to recreate in the digital world.”