Marek Brincko – The Bee Whisperer

The artist Marek Brincko studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, focusing on classical sculpture. At the end of his studies, he became an assistant to Zora Palová and Štepán Pala, where he learned to work with glass. Marek Brincko is not only an artist but also continues his family’s beekeeping business in northeastern Slovakia in its third generation​.

His central theme in recent years has been inspired by honeycombs. Through beekeeping, he has integrated the precise geometric with the organic in his sculptures. The hexagonal structure of the honeycombs and the architectural framework around them represent the geometric principle. Irregular wall thicknesses, frayed edges, bulges, and protrusions stand for the organic aspect of these works. The artist uses original honeycombs in his mold-making process. Highly polished, cold, regular geometry and matte, natural structures with their chaotic irregularities stand side by side, creating a dynamic new whole​​.

Brincko says about his work: “On the one hand, I work with real honeycombs, which I collect from swarms and integrate into my glass sculptures; on the other hand, I work with the hexagon element itself, which carries the so-called bee code. It is a genetically coded structure created by the bees. I also work with this form on an enlarged scale, where the originally small, delicate structure becomes a monumental grid”​.