Indruk by Hobie Minnebreuker

In Hobie Minnebreuker’s work, the human body is both a boundary and a bridge—a form that protects yet exposes, shields yet reveals. This tension, the interplay of strength and vulnerability, is at the core of their artistic practice. Through the meticulous and tactile process of photogravure, Minnebreuker brings a sense of physicality to photography, transforming digital images into handcrafted prints that bear the weight of presence, time, and imperfection.

But the body, as presented by Minnebreuker, is never whole—it is an open narrative, fragmented and shifting, resisting resolution. Each image is a trace rather than a statement, its texture and imperfections capturing the instability of existence. The artist’s method is as integral to the meaning of the work as the images themselves. Beginning with a digital photograph, Minnebreuker transfers the image onto a light-sensitive plate, meticulously inking and pressing each print by hand. This transformation is not merely technical; it is a conceptual choice—an insistence on the tangible, the touchable, the real. Every step of the process introduces the possibility of unpredictability, echoing the uncertainties, scars, and resilience of the human form.

Over time, Minnebreuker has immersed themselves in experimentation and refinement, seeking new ways to push the boundaries of their medium. This exploration has culminated in a photobook, a collaboration with graphic designer Suze Swarte, where image and materiality merge, creating a fragmented yet cohesive whole. The book itself becomes an extension of the artist’s vision—a space where the fragility of the human form and the physicality of printmaking intertwine. It is an object that asks to be held, examined, and returned to—its textures and compositions unfolding gradually, never offering a single, fixed reading.

What makes Minnebreuker’s work so compelling is its ability to evoke recognition while resisting certainty. The figures in these prints, with their subtle imperfections and quiet strength, exist in flux—never entirely fixed, never fully knowable. Their presence lingers, not as static representations but as shifting impressions—how we experience them depends on how we return to them, how we project our own histories onto their fractured forms.

Through this deeply personal yet universally resonant collection, Hobie Minnebreuker asks us to reconsider the body—not as a flawless ideal, but as something infinitely more profound: a record of experience, a site of transformation, and a testament to the beauty found in imperfection. The result is not only a striking body of work but a work that lingers—an invitation to return, to reinterpret, to see anew.