Botanical Delights made of Black Leather: Emma Marita Westergaard
27 March 2024
Sublime Nature Drawings and Traditional Printmaking: Inken Stabell
30 May 2024

Artist Interview

Esben Horn

Hyperrealism Gone Wild!

In collaboration with Lövendahl, Zakarian created and curated BLACKLANDS:
a group exhibition focusing on the color black.
This interview series continues directing the spotlight at fascinating artists working with the darkest shades.

Interview by Mariam Zakarian, April 2024

Visiting the spacious studio of Esben Horn’s company 10 Tons is like stepping into a science lab, an artist’s atelier and a cabinet of curiosities all at once. Your eyes fly from giant bones to half-finished creature parts, to insects in glass domes and jars of marine animals suspended in liquid, and then you realize that none of what you’re seeing is real and your jaw drops.
No, this is not taxidermy. Everything is made out of materials such as polystyrene, acrylics and epoxy – no real creature parts involved. The sculptures are so convincing that the word “uncanny” doesn’t even enter.

Caiman with Baby by 10 Tons, 2023. 3D print and polyurethane painted with acrylics. Photo: Rasmus Sigvaldi

The artistic aspiration to depict the natural world to perfection by hand goes back to at least the Ancient Greeks who tried to capture the human body in marble, freezing warriors and gods in time. Since then, and particularly in the late 20th century, this resulted in the hyperrealism and photorealism movements in visual arts.
On canvas and other surfaces, skilled painters spend hours perfecting details to such a degree that the work resembles a photograph. In three dimensions, achieving this effect of tricking the eye is much more challenging as the light and environment need to affect the end-result just as they affect real, organic materials. The slight translucence of skin needs to be imitated. The glossiness of eyes. The abundance of different textures covering a living organism. The viewer’s first reaction is always to step closer to scrutinize the details, so they need to be perfect, not breaking the illusion.

Nurse Shark Tooth by Studio Megaton, 2023. Chiseled from linden wood, partially burned. Photos: Rasmus Sigvaldi

And illusions seem to be 10 Tons’ specialty. Master craftsman and artist of the uncanny, Esben Horn, has always been deeply fascinated by the natural world and began woodcarving with a knife in early childhood. After studying at The Danish Design School and several twists and turns, he started his business of making realistic models 25 years ago.
Horn built the award-winning company 10 Tons from the ground up, and today the team consists of himself as well as Rasmus Frederiksen, Stacey Wiik, Christine Kvint and Majbrit Zornig Rivas. Together they have perfected their special techniques and skills in imitating the natural world to stunning, mind-bending detail.

With the introduction of new technologies, the work does not always start from scratch. Real specimens can sometimes be scanned, then 3D printed or robot milled (programming a robotic arm to automatically carve out materials until the final product is produced). But these models are still sculpted and manipulated by hand, and most importantly, the surface details which create the illusion of these artifacts being real, are meticulously detailed and painted by the artists.

10 Tons has made 3-dimensional imitations of reality for museums and artists around the world, including the Natural History Museum in Luxembourg, Phyletisches Museum in Germany, and artist Uffe Isolotto for the Danish pavillion at the Venice Biennale.
A particularly fun project worth mentioning is Rock Fossils on Tour, a traveling exhibition with sculptures of newly discovered fossils, which scientists with a passion for the heavier genres of music have named after their favorite rock stars.

What appeals to me the most about all of these projects, even the ones veering from the strictly scientific reproductions, is the obvious celebration of nature and the perfect merging of technology, art and science to a degree that elevates all three and results in something beautiful. It takes an almost religious kind of dedication to the splendor of the natural world to create these hyper-real illusions. Every small, unique detail is noticed and revealed, sometimes amplified.
And particularly relevant to the spirit of this interview series are a number of special pieces utilizing the color black to perfection.

When not working for others, Esben Horn creates his own art pieces in Studio Megaton, as always exploring organic shapes, but no longer adhering strictly to science. Read about his impressive craft in the interview below.

Esben Horn at Studio Megaton, 2023. Acrylic painting on epoxy. Photos: www.280.dk
Q: I'm curious how much of your work is science and how much is art?

Esben Horn: 10 Tons is my work. Studio Megaton is my hobby – my recess, where I do what I feel like doing. My works are often inspired by fossils or things from nature. Among other things, I have created a series of scaled-up shark teeth. It is the shape and the colors of the minerals that have colored the fossils that have interested me. The porous structure beneath the enamel is exaggerated compared to reality. I have used the existing texture and potentiated it – turned it into an ornamentation.

"Objects from our mythical twin planet Counter Earth. At first glance they look familiar, but upon closer inspection, reveal something unexpected and unique." Studio Megaton exhibition at Holmegaard Værk, 2023. Acrylic gypsum and epoxy. Photo: Morten Bonde/Museum Sydøstdanmark

"The language of shapes and structures found in nature is my greatest inspiration."

- Esben Horn
Q: The techniques and materials you use are very sophisticated and complex, so it would be nice to get an overview of how you work and how these art pieces are actually made. Can you describe the typical process of making one of your projects, if there is one?

At 10 Tons, we use very advanced techniques. 3D modeling and printing, robotic milling, laser cutting, and complicated casting techniques with different types of resin in molds. I started 10 Tons alone, but over the 26 years I’ve been at it, the complexity has exploded. It’s exciting, and the results we can achieve are fantastic. But I’ve become a small cog in a large machine.
That’s why I started staying at the workshop after hours to return to less complex and less time-consuming techniques, where I do everything myself. So, in Studio Megaton, it’s very hands-on, like shaping styrofoam with a steel brush, knife, and sandpaper. I model the surfaces in acrylic gypsum and use epoxy with various fillers and colors and many layers to create semi-transparent surfaces, such as enamel.

Psilocybin Mushroom by 10 Tons, 2022. Painted 3D print in polyurethane, suspended in epoxy. Photo: 10 Tons.
Q: Who and/or what are your main creative influences?

I am most interested in techniques, materials, and forms. I don’t have an artistic project or mission. I just mentally clock out and stand experimenting, only to ‘wake up’ and look at what I have made. The language of shapes and structures found in nature is my greatest inspiration.

Q: Since this interview series is about the color black, can you tell us about some of your creations where black has played a particularly significant role?

My employees always give me a hard time for continuing to paint our dinosaur models until they are almost black. It’s important to know when to stop to avoid that, in most cases. But over at Studio Megaton, I’m in charge, and the dark tones definitely have free reign there.
We’ve also made a few things for and with Lövendahl — which, of course, had to be pitch-black.

 

Canea capillata - black edition for Lövendahl, 2023. Polyurethane, horse hair and epoxy. Photos: 10 Tons
Leather Heart, created for Roskilde Museum of Rock, 2016. Polystyrene covered in black leather. Photo: 10 Tons.
Q: Do you create in silence or do you listen to something?

As soon as the others have left the workshop, I turn the music up loud. Music is my oxygen when I’m doing my own thing. I consume a lot of music, listening to many bands which I then move on from to discover new ones. Thus, there have been many bands over time.
Apart from Rotting Christ, currently I’m into bands like Villagers of Ioannina City, Wo Fat, All Them Witches, Earth, Earthless, Anna von Hausswolff, Black Mountain, Dopelord, Papir, Acid King. Motörhead and Black Sabbath also frequently make a reappearance now and then.

"It's fun to be able to give something back to the people who have given me so much through their music."

- Esben Horn
Kingnites diamondi, a fossil named after King Diamond, 2013. Polyurethane-resin. Photo: 10 Tons
Kalloprion kilmisteri, a fossil named after Lemmy Kilmister, 2013. Polyurethane-resin. Photo: 10 Tons
Q: Rock Fossils is such an interesting undertaking, merging art, music and science. Can you share a few of your favorite moments related to this project?

The greatest moment was definitely sitting and eating a burger and drinking sparkling water with Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath.
My friend, Mats E. Eriksson, is a paleontologist and has named many fossils after rock stars. He even named a fossil after Tony, and against all odds, he managed to arrange a meeting with him at a pub in Birmingham to present a model of the fossil. It was a big deal.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath with the model of Drepanoistodus iommii, 2023. Polyurethane resin. Photo: Mike Olley
Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ with Brezinacantha tolis, 2020 Polyurethane-resin Photo: Rotting Christ

At one point, I even got to name another fossil that the paleontologist Ben Thuy had described. I chose Rotting Christ, one of my favorite bands. However, one of the co-authors was Christian and objected. The compromise was to name it after the Tolis brothers, who started Rotting Christ. I sent a trophy of a goat skull entwined by the fossil brittle star to Sakis Tolis. He responded with a photo, proudly displaying it. It’s fun to be able to give something back to the people who have given me so much through their music.

Giant Skull for Hammershus 'visitor center' on Bornholm, 2019. Robot milled polystyrene with hand-modeled surface in acrylic gypsym. Photo: 10 Tons.
Q: Which of your projects would you say has been the most elaborate and time-consuming so far?

The sculptures I have made so far take about 50-60 hours to create. So they are more like exhibition projects, like my solo exhibition at Holmegaard, ‘Counter Earth,’ which took time. I worked on that exhibition for a couple of years. Currently, I am doing a few exhibitions with my good friend Rune Fjord. The biggest one is the exhibition ‘Witch Eggs,’ which opens at Museum Hex in Ribe on June 28. That has also been a couple of years in the making.
In May—during Art Week—we are opening the exhibition ‘Infested’ at Rune’s Gallery in Adelgade, curated by Gallery Format. We’ve also been working on that for about half a year.

Egg, collaboration with Rune Fjord, 2024. Raku-fired clay and resin. Photo: 10 Tons.
We Walked the Earth by Uffe Isolotto, 2021. Robot milled 3D scans of horse in PU-foam, modified in Z-brush, covered in horse hide. Upper bodies in silicone made by Thomas Foldberg. Photo: Ugo Carmeni
Q: What's it like to produce pieces for other artists, like Uffe Isolotto?
And are there any artists, contemporary or historical, who would be particularly interesting for you to collaborate with?

When we create works for artists, we’re back at 10 Tons. It’s work. Fun work, but the focus is on delivering the best to achieve the results the artists want—just like when we labor to make a model of an insect for a natural history museum, making sure the scientists are satisfied with the placement of every tiny hair.
It would be fun to work for someone like Iris van Herpen. On a speculative note, I would like to travel back to the Gothic period and work for Tilman Riemenschneider—a sculptor whose altars I have traveled around Germany to see.

We Walked the Earth by Uffe Isolotto, 2021, exhibited in Den Frie Udstillingsbygning in 2023. Photos: Mariam Zakarian
Megalodon Tooth by Studio Megaton, 2021. Hand-modeled acrylic gypsum and epoxy on polystyrene. Photo: Rasmus Sigvaldi
Q: Are there specific pieces in your vast portfolio which matter more to you than others?

The frustrating part is that you ‘finish’ the sculptures. Once they are made, the fun part is over and they mean less, since there are new projects that consume all your time and focus. If I had to mention one, it would be the first thing I made—a Megalodon tooth. But it’s more about the nostalgia of it, how it opened up this world for me where I create my own things in my free time.

 

The Claw by Studio Megaton, 2021. Hand-modeled from acrylic gypsum and epoxy on polystyrene. Photo: Rasmus Sigvaldi
Q: Do you have a dream project that you would undertake if you had unlimited time and resources?

It’s a bit like the dream of having endless amounts of money. If that happened, I’d probably drink myself to boredom and death. The idea that anything is possible feels like a curse to me—how are you supposed to choose?
‘More is never enough,’ a wise person once said. Time is a scarce resource for me, and thus my impatience has been the driving force in my handmade sculptures. If I didn’t have to ‘steal’ every second, I think I’d just go cold and sit staring at things.

That said, it would be wonderful to be able to spend all my time on what I want, instead of doing what others want me to do — but again, I can imagine it might end badly. It’s good to have a stone in your shoe – something that irritates and disturbs you – because then the moments when I can work on my own things become valuable.

 

Q: And finally, why do you create art?

There is a fundamental joy and satisfaction in creating something.

Black Dandelion, 2023. Dandelion submerged in epoxy, painted with acrylic. Photo: 10 Tons

Find more of Esben Horn‘s work at the Studio Megaton website.
Catch the exhibition “Infested” at Rune Fjord Studio in Adelgade 55, Copenhagen, in May 2024,
and the exhibition “Witch Eggs” at museum HEX! in Ribe in June 2024.

Check out last month’s artist interview with Emma Marita Westergaard about botanical sculptures made of black leather.