Weaving Traditions
Holger Lönze's professional development started with an apprenticeship as a furniture maker before moving to architecture and later sculpture. Craft has played an important role in his artistic practice ever since, expanding his skills from wood to metal. He casts much of his sculpture work and makes his own tools on a small farrier's forge. Continuing to work with wood, he builds boats and uses a pole lathe for making wooden tools. By combining woodwork with canvas, he makes yurts and ventures into sailmaking. Working with clay for larger sculptures has expanded to making cob bread ovens and clay moulds for sculpture. Through his research for the Eden Project, Holger acquired traditional craft skills including basket making, straw work (image right) and working with linoleum.
Art and craft materials are inseparably linked: while the intellectual concept of artwork has always been crucial - a sculptor has to master armatures, clay, plaster or carving stone. In newly emerged artforms like performance and video art in sculpture, this balance has been noticably shifted to the intellectual pole: artwork is often conceived by the artist, then manufactured by engineers. In Holger's work the art/craft link is still very strong, resulting in an inspired balance between concept and technical skill.
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