2011 Sculptur 11 Os: Oslo Sculpture Park (Norway)
2011 10 Jahre Bildhauer Symposium ( Kunstbewegt, Germany)
2011 Benq International Sculpture workshop
Introduction
Hands always have to touch the stone. Its color and crystals contain a mystery and harmony I try to hold on to. The memory of an image materializes itself. Everything I knew has flown away; all but this image that looms up as a diaphanous truth. Hands touch the stone to see and like a piano tuner tunes its chords the stone resounds the form.
(from: http://karinvanommerensculptor.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/stone/ )
Pietrasanta is a town on the coast of Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Lucca. It is situated in the foothills of the Apuan Alps, some kilometers from Carrara. The town has been called Italy’s “Little Athens” because, for centuries, artists from all over the world have come here to make their sculptures in stone or bronze. Since the 15th century Pietrasanta is famous for its connection with marble and it has a long tradition of excellent “artigiani” (craftsmen) for stone. It is also the home for a large number of high quality bronze founderies for art.
Today sculptors still come to Pietrasanta and rent a place in one of the studios for a long or short period of time. Here the old tradition of stone sculpture by hammer and chisel can be found next to computer sent machinery that cuts the stone with high precision.
For me this town always has been very important for my work. The knowledge of the craftsmen, the excess of different types of stone and the tradition of stone sculpture in the daily life of the people of Pietrasanta has always been an inspiration.
(from: http://karinvanommerensculptor.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/pietrasanta-italy-city-of-art/ )
The world is made of stone, my favorite stone is granite
Granite was formed from the magma, the fluid mix of molten stones that is found beneath the surface of the earth. The magma cooled down slowly and as it was under constant pressure , it formed crystals from different types of minerals. Those minerals give the color to the stone and that is why we can find so many different colors of granite. The stone was formed deep beneath the earth’s crust thousands of years ago.
Its skin looks soft, its presence strong. Time is stilled.
(from: http://karinvanommerensculptor.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/the-world-is-made-of-stone-my-favorite-stone-is-granite/ )
The essential sense of landscape, the spirit of place, and the transformative power of sculpture
The landscape, the surroundings we live in, are sculpted by time, by the weather, by men who build their towns and villages. The landscape, its battered surface, changes as time goes by. It is a record of the past, and a testimony to the society we live in today, but its essence lingers. Some places carry their essence on every hill, grove, … stone.
I found this little village close to the Carrara quarries, between the Apuan Alps and the Mediterranean. It barely stands on top of the rock, while the rest of the mountain crumbles away, it reminded me of the song written by Paul McCartney and it inspired me to make the round sculpture, pictured below, which I sculpted out of pink granite.
(from: http://karinvanommerensculptor.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/the-essential-sense-of-landscape-the-spirit-of-place-and-the-transformative-power-of-sculpture/ )