Artist Biography

Kohlben Vodden is a contemporary artist living and working in London and Dubai, whose practice centres on wall-mounted spectral sculptures - works in which colour and light bring abstract ideas into being as dynamic colour-fields.

Working at the intersection of philosophy, psychology and perception, Vodden approaches each piece as a conceptual inquiry. His work begins not with form, image or narrative, but with a question: how might an idea exist if it were experienced only as colour? Concepts such as acceptance, self-mastery and resilience are explored not through symbolism, but through optical behaviour - allowing meaning to emerge through perception rather than instruction.

Vodden’s practice has been shaped by extensive international travel, exposing him to diverse cultures, belief systems and ways of seeing. This experience informs a universal lens within his work - one that seeks to translate ideas that transcend geography, language and cultural specificity into colour and light. Rather than addressing the personal or autobiographical, his sculptures aim to operate at the level of shared human experience.

Vodden’s spectral sculptures are created using an avant-garde process developed over a three-year period of experimentation. Multiple layers of dyed resin are built up on mirrored surfaces to achieve optical colour mixing through depth and transparency, rather than the use of pre-mixed hues. Light becomes an active collaborator in the work, producing subtle chromatic aberrations as surrounding colours, movement and environment are refracted across the surface. As a result, each piece shifts continuously, never appearing the same way twice.

Vodden’s practice has evolved through a sustained exploration of abstraction. Beginning with realistic portraiture in graphite, his work progressed through abstracted figurative oil painting before arriving at his current conceptual use of colour and light as primary material. This trajectory reflects a consistent interest in identity, perception and the translation of intangible ideas into visual experience.

His work invites viewers into a state of awe and curiosity, offering not answers, but encounters -moments where thought becomes sensation, and ideas become colour.