Created in 1991, Hoogvlieger belongs to an important group of works produced during the final phase of Carel Visser's career, when collage became an increasingly significant part of his artistic practice. Combining paper, graphite and found materials, Visser constructs an image that is at once carefully composed and intuitively assembled, balancing precision with spontaneity.

The Dutch title, Hoogvlieger ("High Flyer"), evokes both elevation and aspiration. Rather than illustrating a specific subject, the collage suggests movement, lightness and spatial relationships through the careful placement of forms and materials. As throughout Visser's oeuvre, meaning arises not from representation but from the dialogue between individual elements, each retaining its own identity while contributing to a balanced and harmonious whole.

Collage offered Visser an alternative way of thinking about sculpture. Instead of carving or assembling physical volumes, he constructed compositions through layering, juxtaposition and subtle shifts in texture. Paper becomes a material with its own weight and presence, while graphite introduces rhythm and structure. The resulting surface possesses the same tactile sensitivity that characterises his sculptures in wood and bronze.
Hoogvlieger was exhibited in Karel Visser. De Verwondering at Museum Van Reekum, Apeldoorn, in 1992. Acquired directly from Richard Foncke Gallery and preserved in the same Belgian private collection ever since, it is presented at PAN Amsterdam together with Tweelingzusters (1991) and Boom (1993). Reuniting these three unique works offers a rare insight into Visser's mature practice, demonstrating how sculpture, collage and drawing evolved simultaneously through a shared investigation of material, structure and poetic restraint.