About my work

In my work I draw from four different courses of study: sculpture, psychology, analytical art therapy and geomancy. All four of them connect in me to become an approach which I call “Spaces for the head, heart and senses”. Human beings and their well-being are in the centre of this – how forms, colours and the atmospheres which emerge from them can effect them, influence them and reflect back their inner needs.

It is important for me to create living spaces which address us as whole people, invite us in, support us in our creativity. Spaces in which sculptures create a special climax and simultaneously form a whole with the space itself. Spaces which are themselves sculptures – that is spaces for the head, heart and senses…


Basic ideas

People always react to their environments, for example to the forms, shapes and light. When we enter a space for the first time, we often clearly notice what kind of an atmosphere we are confronted with. We can feel comfortably welcomed, be attracted, be aware and curious, or otherwise feel rather rejected, shivery within or bored. The awakened sympathy or antipathy results in us being inclined to either remain in an environment for longer or rather to avoid it. Often we consciously perceive this first impression. Later the surroundings exert a strong influence over us, without us constantly perceiving it. It is similar to traffic noise. If you live or work in a noisy street, you hear every car at first. After some time you don’t hear the noise any more. But it demonstrably makes you sick anyway.

The environment is never “neutral”. It always affects us. It can make us curious, excite our creativity, promote our feeling of well-being and address us as whole human beings with head, heart and senses. It can also limit us in our creativity and our feeling of well-being, repelling us through its coolness, soberness and objectivity. The surroundings show us also how much value is attributed to the activities which are carried out in the building and at the same time how much the people who carry out these activities are respected and valued. When the value of people and their activities is given recognition through their surroundings, the identification with the content of the work and with the employer is enhanced, as well as the motivation to work and the results of the work.


Approach to work

Initially, the first impression which is perceived with awareness is important. What kind of atmospheres do spaces confront the observers with? What do these things effect in me? And what tasks should the spaces actually achieve? The foyer of a company which frightens off its visitors is dysfunctional, as is a conference room which is tiring because of its pure objectivity, or a class room which is repelling in its loveless state, or a hospital room which lets one freeze internally though its soberness. Whatever tasks a space is supposed to have, it is always people which use it and give it life. Their needs are of central meaning.

I sit myself in a space and observe it as a whole like a sculpture, like a large piece of marble from which I do not remove anything, but which I add things to, and I ask myself: “What is lacking in this room, through which it could become alive and in tune with itself?“ Through sculpture I create the experience of the power of form, though analytical art therapy the knowledge of the symbolic influence of forms, colours and materials, through psychology the meaning of fundamental human needs and through geomancy the sensing of the quality of the atmosphere.

In this way a conference room emerges, which requires clarity, alertness and inspiration, a foyer which is welcoming to its visitors, or a cafeteria which supports relaxation and regeneration. All these spaces bring towards the observer recognition of their value and a basic warmth.

In my shaping of spaces I work with colours, forms, sculptures, light and natural materials which correspond to our senses and our whole being. People can clearly sense if that which is placed near them is just an optical stimulation, such as an artificial plant, or if it is a living being which is breathing and growing. Natural materials give us power. They attach themselves to our roots, to our connection to nature.


Sculptures

Sculptures establish a special high point of a space. They centre it and give focus to a special theme in the space. They address us – just as the whole shaping of the space does – directly to our sensation, on all levels of our being as humans, and open up to us the possibility of spontaneous calming and inspiration.

I search for the stones for my sculptures myself in quarries. According to the theme of the sculpture I select a stone with colours and material which underscores this theme and expresses itself along with it. I am particularly inclined to marble, which through its transparency and the colours of its crystals, bears in itself the concerns of my work.

In the quarry I allow myself to be inspired by the picture of the sculpture which I am carrying within me and the character of the idiosyncratic beauty of the stones which I see in front of me. After the selection, the stone is transported to Germany and the process of getting closer to the idiosyncratic character of the stone begins, a process of collaboration between its singularity and my vision…

The themes of my sculptures repeatedly touch the basic questions of our existence, fathom our deepest human wishes and needs and allow the multi-dimensionality of our being shine through. The search for the recognition of this multi-dimensionality in every manifestation, and the deep joy for the beauty living within, are the inspirational powers of my work.