18 Apr-16 Jun 2024 

Interview Thaddäus Salcher

What influences led you to become an artist?

I can still remember my grandpa and grandma carving small figures of Christ.

In winter they would sit in the warm living room at a small table by the window and carve.

As mountain farmers, it was a small side job for them.

My father moved to the Val Gardena in the 1950s to learn the sculptor's trade.

He mainly made wooden sculptures for churches.

I myself grew up in his workshop.

I can still remember hiding under his work table and playing as a small child.

I soon carved my first sheep.

How did you arrive at the forms of expression that you use today?

In my younger years, I was particularly interested in studying nature in nudes. Drawing, sketching and modeling nudes as realistically as possible was my goal at the time. After my training as a wood sculptor in my father's workshop, I saw that the time had come to create something personal. A personal signature that arises from the subconscious. A form just emerges when I'm working. How do you approach a new sculpture? My approaches can vary. Most of the time, it starts with a small sketch on paper. Sometimes I discover stones and shapes in nature in which I already see or sense a sculpture. Then I start working on them and a sculpture emerges without planning, simply from feeling and the subconscious. What is particularly important to you in your artistic creative process? I see a stone somewhere that particularly challenges me in terms of its shape, then I pick it up and start carving it. Working is often like a struggle and failure, but if you persevere, you have the opportunity to take a step further. When I notice that something in the work touches me, I stop and the work is finished for me.

What role does nature play in your work?

Nature is sacred to me, it is perfect for me.

I see it as an infinite source.

The more I delve into it, the more I can create new forms from it.

What different qualities do the different materials you work with have for you?

The material plays a secondary role for me as a sculptor.

For me, the primary thing is the form and the content that I can read from it.

Of course, a material that is chosen sensibly in a context can enhance and complement the work.

At the moment, stone is my preferred material.

The lengthy and time-consuming work process means that I have to persevere until something is created that touches me.

What I also love about it is its sustainability.

Every work is absolutely unique.

What does space mean to you?

Space is very important to me. Every sculpture lives from the light that the space gives it.
The spatial relationships between the sculpture, outside and inside, also play a major role.
A sculpture lives with its surroundings.
It is an interaction and a coexistence.