Capturing the Other Side of Outer Space

A view of a distant nebula where light, depth, and motion unfold slowly—revealing the quieter, less visible side of outer space.

Space is often represented as spectacle—vast explosions of color, distant stars, and dramatic celestial events. But there is another side of space that rarely gets attention: the quiet, dimensional, and slow-moving aspects that exist beyond immediate visibility.

Martin Eichinger’s epoxy resin work focuses on that other side. Rather than illustrating space as an image, the work explores how space behaves—how light travels, how depth accumulates, and how perception changes with time and position.

Moving Beyond Illustration

Traditional depictions of space tend to rely on surface imagery. Stars are placed against darkness. Galaxies are flattened into recognizable forms. The viewer understands the subject immediately.

Eichinger’s approach resists that immediacy.

Instead of presenting space as something to look at, the work invites the viewer to look into it. Layers of epoxy resin create internal depth rather than surface detail. Color becomes suspended rather than applied.

The result is less illustrative and more experiential.

Depth as a Way of Seeing

In epoxy resin, depth is not implied—it’s built.

Layer by layer, resin allows color, texture, and light to exist at different distances from the viewer. Some elements appear close. Others recede. Nothing is fully revealed at once.

This mirrors how space itself is encountered. What we see is shaped by position, light, and time. Distance matters. Perspective matters.

Epoxy makes those variables visible.

Light as Information, Not Decoration

Light plays a central role in how these works are experienced. It doesn’t simply illuminate the surface. It activates what lies beneath it.

As light passes through layered resin, it refracts, reflects, and shifts. Subtle changes in angle or environment can alter what becomes visible.

This means the artwork never settles into a single reading. It changes depending on how it’s approached.

In this way, light becomes information—not decoration.

Why Abstraction Matters for Space-Inspired Art

Space is largely unknowable. Much of it is inferred rather than observed directly. Abstraction, then, is not a stylistic choice—it’s an honest one.

By avoiding literal representation, Eichinger’s work leaves room for uncertainty. The pieces don’t explain space. They suggest it.

This allows viewers to engage with the work intuitively rather than analytically. Meaning emerges through observation, not instruction.

Time, Patience, and Perception

These works reward slow looking.

Details emerge gradually as the eye adjusts. Depth becomes clearer with movement. What first appears minimal often reveals complexity over time.

This pacing stands in contrast to how space imagery is typically consumed—quickly, dramatically, and at a distance.

Here, space is something you spend time with.

The Other Side of Outer Space

Capturing the other side of outer space isn’t about depicting what’s out there. It’s about reflecting how we experience the unknown.

Through depth, light, and material behavior, epoxy resin becomes a way to engage with space as a process rather than a picture.

What’s revealed isn’t a destination. It’s a way of seeing.

From Bronze to Epoxy: Reinventing a Career in Color

Martin Eichinger’s transition from bronze sculpture to epoxy resin wasn’t a departure from his past—it was an expansion of it. After decades working in traditional materials, epoxy offered a new way to explore light, movement, and color without abandoning the sculptural thinking that defined his career.

Rather than replacing one medium with another, the shift opened a different set of questions. What happens when form gives way to depth? When surface becomes something you look into instead of around?

For Eichinger, epoxy became a way to keep evolving without starting over.

Martin Eichinger refining a clay sculpture by hand, where precision, patience, and material knowledge shape each decision in the studio.

A Foundation Built in Bronze

Bronze is a material rooted in discipline. It requires patience, planning, and respect for process. Every decision carries weight because revision is costly and often irreversible.

Years of working in bronze shaped Eichinger’s approach to making art. Composition mattered. Structure mattered. So did restraint.

As Eichinger has said, “Working in bronze teaches you to think ahead. Once you commit, you’re committed.”

That mindset didn’t disappear when he began working with epoxy. It carried over—quietly informing how he approached a medium that behaves very differently.

Why Epoxy Opened a New Creative Path

Where bronze is solid and final, epoxy is fluid and responsive. It allows color to move, light to pass through, and depth to form internally.

This shift wasn’t just technical. It was conceptual.

Epoxy introduced time as an active element in the work. Layers could be built gradually. Reactions could unfold. Pieces could change character depending on light and environment.

For an artist used to thinking three-dimensionally, epoxy offered a way to sculpt with transparency instead of mass.

Letting Color Lead Instead of Form

Bronze demands clarity of form. Epoxy invites ambiguity.

Rather than defining edges and contours, Eichinger began working with color as structure. Pigments, mica powders, and light interactions became the primary compositional tools.

This approach required a different kind of trust. Instead of controlling every outcome, the process allowed room for variation and discovery.

“You stop telling the material exactly what to do,” Eichinger has noted. “You listen to what it’s doing and respond.”

The result was work that felt less representational and more experiential—art that revealed itself gradually rather than all at once.

Reinvention Without Abandonment

Reinventing a career doesn’t always mean leaving the past behind. Sometimes it means translating it.

Eichinger’s epoxy work still reflects the sensibilities developed through decades of sculpture: balance, proportion, and attention to material behavior. What changed was the language.

The move from bronze to epoxy wasn’t a rejection of tradition. It was a continuation—adapted to a medium capable of holding light, color, and uncertainty in equal measure.

Why Career Shifts Matter in Art

Material changes often signal deeper shifts in how an artist sees the world.

In Eichinger’s case, epoxy made room for curiosity later in a career rather than closing it off. It created space to experiment, question, and respond to new ideas without losing identity.

That willingness to evolve is visible in the work itself. Each piece reflects both where it came from and where it’s still going.

Reinvention, here, isn’t about novelty. It’s about staying engaged.

Looking Forward Through Color and Process

Epoxy continues to offer Eichinger a platform for exploration. Its responsiveness keeps the work open-ended, resisting repetition and encouraging attention.

Color becomes more than surface. Light becomes part of the composition. Process remains visible.

The transition from bronze to epoxy didn’t simplify the work. It expanded it—layer by layer, decision by decision.

From the Heart: Why This Sculpture Matters to Collectors

Martin Eichinger's From the Heart is one of his most iconic sculptures—and a key piece for collectors. It shares its name with his hardcover art book and reflects the core of his creative philosophy: to make art that comes from the heart.

"My mission is to have my artwork come from my heart." – Martin Eichinger

Created after The Only Way Out Is Through, which addressed emotional resilience in women, this sculpture shifts focus to a man's inner life. But instead of pushing through difficulty, the male figure in From the Heart rises above it. His body leans back, open, trusting, connected to an abstract, wave-like base.

Martin described this figure as one who "isn't bracing for impact... he's letting go."

From a collector's standpoint, this work is notable for what it represents. Martin has said this sculpture captures the mission behind his entire career. That kind of personal statement is rare—and adds real significance to its place in any collection.

The symbolism is deliberate. One hand reaches outward, the other touches the heart—the highest point of the sculpture. Nudity is handled with restraint, keeping attention on emotion rather than anatomy. "It needed to be about something higher," Martin said.

The piece also came with technical challenges. Sculpting the upside-down head required careful proportion work. The pose itself evolved over time, and at one point, Martin even adjusted the body angle mid-process to better fit the composition.

The base blends elements of wave, landscape, and architecture. It represents uncertainty, but the figure doesn’t resist it—he rises with it.

"A lot of the details emerged during the making. I started with a strong structure and let it evolve," Martin shared.

What makes From the Heart truly collectible isn’t just its design—it’s the honesty behind it. The scale, presence, and personal meaning all contribute to its significance.

This month only, From the Heart is available at 40% off as part of the Eichinger Sculpture Studio's Collector Series. Purchases include:

• A signed hardcover of From the Heart: Sculpture by Martin Eichinger

• A 12" bronze bust, Helping Hand (a $3,500 value) as a companion gift

See it in person at Art at The Geode, 2516 SE Division St, Portland, Oregon.

This is more than a sculpture. It's a signature moment in Martin Eichinger's journey—a piece created not for the market, but from the heart.