Rising Up
80 x 30 x 40 (without pedestal), 2020, Untersberg marble and conglomerate
The work, which refers to the baroque dwarf garden in Salzburg, addresses the theme of emancipation, which is illustrated through various sculptural elements. The viewer’s view of the sculpture from above symbolically repeats the relationship between master and servant. However, the figure rejects the „dwarf“ perspective and does not want to be perceived as part of a comical menagerie, but is in the process of standing up on its own accord. The stone used for the grotesque figures in the dwarf garden comes from the Untersberg, as does the stone used for this sculpture. However, the fragile conglomerate parts here question the claim to eternity, not only of the marble.
Cassandra Does Not Understand
160 x 70 x 50 (without pedestal), 2024, light Untersberg marble
The sculpture’s formal and thematic design draws on the traditions of Mannerism and Baroque, while at the same time continuing these traditions in a contemporary reflection on fate, knowledge, and powerlessness. As in the works of these art-historical epochs, the expressive body is also the focus here: it becomes the bearer of inner tension, the visible form of the invisible.
The ancient seer Cassandra, who became a prophetess against her will, lies overwhelmed on the ground—a moment of extreme shock, captured in marble. Her hand, which she places on her ear, seems like a desperate gesture of listening and at the same time of defense. This ambivalence reflects the central dilemma of the figure: knowledge without power, insight without influence. Thus, she could neither prevent the war for Troy nor its defeat, just as she could only helplessly await her own known murder.