About
Holger C. Lönze D.Phil. MRBS is a full-time professional sculptor and maker working in metals. Since moving to Ireland in 1995, he has widely exhibited in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy and Spain and has worked on over twenty projects in the public domain. He trained as a furniture maker before studying architecture in Detmold where he became assistant to sculptor Axel Seyler. At the University of Ulster in Belfast he studied lithography and sculpture, completing his doctoral research on visual perception and time in sculpture (D.Phil. thesis). As a researcher in environmental design for The Eden Project and Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall he further pursued his interests in craft materials and sustainability and the making of Irish curachs. Holger also participates in collaborative projects and is a professional member of the Royal Society of Sculptors and the Crafts Council of Ireland.
Influenced by his background in architecture, Holger's location-specific work responds to its environment, context and its users. The sculptures and drawings are a poetic response to the rich culture, archaeology and landscape of the European Atlantic seaboard, directly informed by his journeys in self-made canvas boats: the iconic curachs of Ireland. The importance he places on sustainable living and working is reflected in the use of low-carbon, experimental Bronze Age casting methods and direct metal working together with the use of regenerative and recycled materials in the making of both public commission work and studio practice. This interest in archaeology is also central to fabricating the work, as prehistoric casting and repoussé are combined with innovative technology and digital drawing, offering a unique contemporary approach with a deeply sustainable ethos.
Much of Holger’s sculpture is rooted in European maritime culture. Objects and forms combine to create a unique visual language where individual forms intersect and penetrate each other: man becomes bird, ocean waves occupy the surface of bells, shipping containers or sails. The physical conundrum that only in sculpture two or more physical objects can occupy the same Cartesian space at the same moment of time is a unique characteristic of the Holger’s artistic approach. The combination of natural form creates new sculptural, abstract form. His intention is to create contemporary, poetic work that evokes common rootedness in an ancient past and and otherworldliness in the beholder.