20 TOBEL
REFLECTIONS IN STONE - from the inside out REFLECTIONS IN STONE BY CHRISTIANE AHLHELM
A DICTUM SAYS: “STONE IS THE COMPILED HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE”. TOBEL’S WORLD IS THIS DENSE FORM OF ENERGY TO BE FOUND IN THE HUGE BLOCKS OF STONE HE WORKS WITH. HIS PIECES OF ART ARE IN CONTRAST TO WHAT WE NORMALLY UNDERSTAND BY A SCULPTURE.
As a contemporary artist, he is opposed to the spirit of time. His works differ fundamentally from the traditional and industrial
new sculptures. He finds them in quarries, river beds, and in the mountains, and his choice is determined by what he expects to find underneath the surface.
stone
carvings. TOBEL does not change the outer aspect of the stone, but starts changing the monolithic stone from the inside.
TOBEL was born in 1968 in the City of Munich into a family with a long standing tradition for art. His great-grandfather was a sculptor in Munich, and his mother Lotte Koch is well- known for her paintings and drawings.
At a young age, TOBEL challenged himself by climbing in the Rocky Mountains of America and the high peaks of the Himalayas. The physical strength he gained made his biceps grow but also helped him for today’s work as a sculptor. Nature, and in particular stones and rocks, have always fascinated TOBEL; and he is constantly looking for stones which inspire
TOBEL´s search for elementary forms has its origin in the unhewn block of stone. This rough block of stone determines the size, proportions and the character of his sculptures. His sculptures are created to represent the interior life of a stone block. Several hundred millions of years - the history of the stone - are made visible.
In his workshop he creates sculptures which reveal the inner soul of the stone. To hew the stone is a very hard job, but nothing is as sensitive as stone, one false hit, a crack and a fracture, and the whole concept is destroyed.
A lot of pain and attention has to be given to the preparatory work before starting to apply the heavy tools. As mentioned before, sculptors in general convert the outside of the stone. TOBEL is different; he is more fascinated by the interior life of the stone. TOBEL transforms the stone by excavations in form of caves, spirals, passages and tubes. His preferred
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