The German sculptor Christoph Finkel creates his art from storm felled trees. He seeks and salvages his material in the high valleys of his native Allgäu. The tree’s character and history, the way it grows, inspires the creative process. Annual rings, cracks and scars reveal a harsh and exposed life along steep slopes. The finished pieces of art are craftsmanship bordering on the impossible.
Christoph learned to respect nature as a boy working as a shepherd. Together with two other boys he could be cut off from the outside world for weeks, with responsibility for hundreds of animals. Later he became one of the world's top sport climbers.
The basis for Christoph's knowledge of and feeling for creating in wood flows from family traditions: his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were wheelwrights and sleigh builders. He developed his skills and personal style through sculpture studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg. Now his magnificent works can be found all over the world.
"Lichtgestalt" - skulptur i äppelträ
“With my sculptures, I want to convey a lightness and transparency, despite the massive material [tree trunks] I work with. At the same time, I try to maintain and emphasize the character of the tree by allowing natural knotholes, cracks and bark to be part of my works or art. Crucial to my work is the natural drying process that gives the sculptures their final shape.”
Opening May 19
The exhibition is open until September 22 in the castle’s Stone Hall.
The sculptor Christoph Finkel was born in 1971 in beautiful Allgäu, Germany. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg from 1992 to 1998. Today, he has returned to the Allgäu and lives with his wife and daughter in Bad Hindelang, Germany. Photo: SZ Magasin