Early in his career, artist Alwin Dorok asked himself the fundamental question of what makes an image an image—or, in other words, what painting is. He is convinced that any form of painting, regardless of content or style, can be reduced to three essential elements: form, color, and brushwork. Furthermore, Dorok views painting as the medium of illusion. 

At the very latest since the “Jumping Squares” series (2006–2017), the square—with its neutral form—has taken on central significance in his work. In this series, Alwin Dorok turns the square on its cusp. 
It becomes a rhombus and thereby gains dynamics. This is where the theme of the square and rotational movements begins in his painting.
Since 2016, Dorok has been breaking new ground in his rust paintings. The square now stands in the center of his formal composition. It doubles, progressively enlarges or shrinks, and is reflected in positive and negative forms. Squares are shifted parallel to one another, stand in a metric relationship to neighboring surfaces, are folded, or rotate.
Color also takes on a new significance in these works. In a compositional tension with the rust surfaces, Dorok uses pure pigments in a highly conceptual manner. He creates series in which he places groups of pigments—such as cobalt, ultramarine, oxide, ochre, or earth pigments—with the rust surface in a specific context. It is an autonomous art form composed of geometry, color, and materials.

Alwin Dorok is currently working on three distinct groups of works: rust paintings, surface divisions, and works on paper. All of these series revolve around formal explorations of the square, the tension between form and surface, and color itself. All of these series are mutually interdependent.