"Tall Man, Black and White" shows the typical Balkenhol figure with a white shirt and black trousers on a base, both made from one piece.
Even if the work carved in wood has been worked through to the last detail, this happens without ever denying the structure of the material or the traces of the artistic processing. At the same time, the rough surface contrasts with the almost delicate, precise colouring applied by Balkenhol.
Balkenhol's figures are unmistakable, but at the same time they are puzzling in a strange way. They resist the attempt to translate the supra-individual, untimely and unapproachable into something specific or personal, and deny any explanations for their appearance.
Stephan Balkenhol himself underscores the importance of the inexplicable character of these figures, which are only everyday at first glance, but in reality are irritatingly hermetic, when he says: "My sculptures do not tell stories. There is something mysterious in them. It is not my task to reveal it, but that of the viewer to discover it. "
