Wulf Kirschner's main material is steel. Using different types of steel (shipbuilding steel, stainless steel, Corten steel) and different electrodes (chromium-nickel, universal or lime-based electrodes), which he welds line by line, the sculptor succeeds in inscribing his reliefs and three-dimensional bodies with a poetic color scheme and painterly structure.
Wulf Kirschner has dedicated himself to the infinity of the line, it is his essential design element. Welding on line by line, he creates lines that resemble those in a book. The viewer follows them through the acquired reading direction. His works, which mostly follow basic geometric shapes, are an expression of uniformity and diversity. No weld seam is the same as the other and yet they develop their effect as a whole. Unpredictable in their structure and color, the lines develop a painterly quality and poetic beauty.
His welding seam works shows how great the differentiation possibilities are within an apparently fixed system. Depending on which material he uses, his works of art can have a colorful, shimmering surface or create harmony in warm earth tones.
The works presented in the video, which can currently be seen in the Cadoro – Center for Art and Science in Mainz, exemplify how carefully the artist constructs his objects. With recourse to the groups of the Platonic, Archimedean and Johnson solids, he breathes life into the delicate geometric constructions and gives them shape in robust shipbuilding steel.
Kirschner attaches great importance to the balance of form and content, whereby the latter is to be equated with the design of the surface. The choice of electrodes and their arrangement allow the artist the poetic design of the work, which in no way has to be subordinate to the sculptural form.
Kirschner lived for many years in Cuxhaven on the North Sea. The rough nature, the expanse of the coastal landscape with the mudflats right on the doorstep have decisively shaped his work to this day. Kirschner is fascinated by the influence of nature and weather on his works and the associated changes in the material. Spatial dimensions are connected with temporal dimensions and the process-like nature of his art becomes apparent. In addition to the element of water, fire also plays an important role in Wulf Kirschner's work. While it is difficult for the artist to control, it is existential for the creation process of his works. The shrinkage stresses that are released change the once geometric shapes of the sheets, which are now corrugated or warped.
You want find out more about the work of Wulf Kirschner? Then you should check out our artist page which features a selection of his works! New videos from the series are released regularly on our YouTube channel.
