The motto I have chosen for my life and my artwork

"Contribute to the Beauty of the World "

I have chosen this motto for some time now. It applies to my daily life and therefore also to my artistic work.

In my eyes, our world is beautiful, despite all the things that we don't like, that frighten us, that are ugly and destructive, that deeply unsettle us, that make us angry.

Our world is beautiful in an infinite number of things: in beautiful landscapes, in the ever-changing play of light and shadow, in the sound of music, in a flower or in the smile of a loved one.

Listing the beauty of our world would go beyond the scope of every book, every Wikipedia page, every analogue and virtual photo album.

I feel committed to preserving and expanding this beauty.


That doesn't mean that I am of the opinion that my art, or art in general, should only be beautiful in a harmless, sweet way and should not offend anyone.


In order to point out the unsightly, destructive things that unfortunately also exist, art can and may leave the path of what is only beautiful and harmonious. Sometimes it has to put its finger into the painful wound to make healing possible.

Ultimately, however, this healing is the task that has been assigned to all of us, at least to those who in some way have the skills and means to do something about it.

From my perspective, creating beauty is part of that healing, part of our ability to make the world better.

Across all eras, artists have tried to contribute to the beauty of the world in their own, often very different, ways.

I want to make my art a part of this tradition of beauty within the range of my possibilities, and thus contribute to making our world more beautiful and a better place.

My Artist´s Statement

I work in various artistic fields.

But first and foremost, I'm a sculptor. My preferred materials are various types of marble and other stones that can be processed to become translucent.

Creating my light stones, I let myself inspire by nature. By the sky, the clouds, by water and fire, all things that are volatile, hardly palpable and at least to a certain degree filled with light.

The intangibility and permanent change inherent to all these natural phenomena, stands in contrast to our perception of the earth as something firm and unchangeable.

A deceptive perception, as anyone knows who has ever experienced an earthquake or the eruption of a volcano, or simply had to fix settlement cracks in the plastering of their houses.

Inadvertently the question comes to mind, what remains if our assumed securities falter, if something we want to hold on to desperately inevitably slips from our hands.

Which values still apply if a hard material like stone, seemingly made for eternity, all of a sudden dissolves into light?

I also ask this question with my other sculptures, with my fragile stelae, for example, or with my sculptures of houses in all imaginable instable or precarious situations.

What remains of the idea of the safety of your home, your own four walls, which, in our thoughts, our house stands for once it is torn from its usual context?

Naturally also my boat sculptures are inspired by the idea of change. Albeit a boat, in contrast to a house, from the outset is a symbol for travel and insecurities going along with it, for new things, for transitions, in short, for change.

And thus change is the only certainty which remains to us reliably.

Brutal but sensitive, how I develop a new, modern visual language in sculpture

Modern disc-cutting tools such as a "Flex" - the common name for all disc-cutting and grinding machines, at least among German-speaking sculptors and stonemasons (after the first "Flex" by Ackermann + Schmitt), are normally used for rough removal work on the stone in order to save time.

After that, traditional hand tools are usually used again, with the intention to erase the traces of the modern tool and to give the impression of traditional craftsmanship.

My approach is different.

I try to exploit the possibilities of the Flex to the utmost. I don´t want the tool marks to disappear, on the contrary they are an essential part of my sculptures.

 
The loud, potentially dangerous, seemingly rough, brutal tool offers processing options that the traditional tools do not offer, or only offer to a very limited extent.

The Flex allows me to remove very large chunks of stone as well as to achieve the finest chiseled structures.

It is possible to make the stone translucent over large areas, thereby creating a completely new form of stone sculpture.

In my translucent works, I use modern tools to develop a new, modern language of form that is completely different from that of traditional stone sculpture.

Interestingly, many people do not perceive this language of form as modern, in the sense of objective, mechanical or cool, but, on the contrary, as very poetic.

Receive regular updates about my artwork. Get my newsletter for free.

Subscribe to my newsletter and receive interesting news about my actual artwork, exhibitions and special offers. Click here!

Sculpting classes in Italy, Unleash your inner Michelangelo

Sculpting classes and Dolce Vita in Italy

The Culinary Stone Carving Experience

Want to know more? Click here!

Sculpture Park in the Olive Grove

Sculpture Park in the Olive Grove.

Participate in an extraordinary Art Project!

Adopt a Sculpture and an Olive Tree.

Want to know more? Click here!