Sculpture of the month: “Sunup”

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, is using his second and final term in office to make climate protection his most important goal. This topic has not been on the agenda for a long time, especially in the USA. When you keep hearing about new revelations about the VW emissions scandal, you are glad that one of the most important men in the world is finally standing up for the environment. But it’s not just “those at the top” who can make the world more beautiful, healthier and ultimately fit for life – everyone has to do their bit. It must be clear to everyone that from now on it is a matter of somehow preserving the world as it is. Because it’s no longer five to twelve, but rather one to go.

Our sculpture of the month for November 2015 is inspired by nature as we still find it today. It invites us to rediscover our natural environment. It pays it the highest respect and thus also reminds us to preserve and protect it! Master stonemason and sculptor Günter Schinn from Riedenburg created the sculpture “Sunup” from Carrara marble with gold leaf. It is one meter high, 20 centimetres wide and 30 centimetres deep. The idea for this work came about during a winter hike: “I was inspired by the snow-covered valleys and mountains. This interplay of white, sometimes hard and at the same time soft shapes that settled on the landscape prompted me to depict this mountain/snow landscape,” explains Schinn.

Valleys, mountains, snow and the sun at the summit – the figure immerses us in a winter morning in the mountains. The air is so shimmeringly clear that it leaves cold traces in your throat, snow crunches under your shoes with every step and the sun slowly rises above the summit and touches your face over the tree tops. A moment of tranquillity – captured in stone. Günter Schinn did not create a two-dimensional image of the landscape, but a metaphor in 3D. His love of nature drives him, and not just in this work. And just as nature is not alien to us, but part of us, the figure should not be cold and forbidding. Touching is expressly permitted!

The breakthrough and the gold leaf surface create an interplay of light and shadow. The sculpture opens up many perspectives, which is very important to the sculptor. He sketched the rough outline of the figure in his head. Finally, he made drawings to capture the idea and carved a 1:10 scale model out of aerated concrete in his studio. What ultimately became of the block of marble only emerged during the working process. “The stone often gives you direction through color or structure, which I then like to let myself be carried away by,” explains Günter STEIN. It is not only a work on the stone, but also with the stone – like a conversation that is still open.

In the artist’s studio, a snapshot of the cool mountain landscape increasingly emerges from the schematic. The finished sculpture shows a visible “growing” process, as Günter Schinn calls it. The work is relatively roughly worked from below with pointed and serrated chisels. “I even deliberately left traces of stain cuts,” says Schinn. It becomes finer and finer towards the top, and is even partially polished at the summit. A beautiful metaphor for becoming and passing away, for development and progress. Because his work also stands for the craft itself, says Schinn.

The figure takes the viewer out – where exactly remains open to everyone. Günter Schinn travels back to the mountains with her; she gives him strength and radiates positive energy. And that is what he wants to convey: The joy of nature and life. The master stonemason reminds us of what the philosopher Immanuel Kant called “sublimity” in a rousing and at the same time gentle way. The almost incomprehensible, immense beauty of nature. Especially today, in the age of melting polar ice caps, this reminder could hardly be more important.

Master stonemason Günter Schinn from Riedenburg founded his company “GStein” in May 2014. His craftsmanship focuses on stone sculpture, art objects, handcrafted grave markers, interior and exterior decoration and individual design. One of the artist’s award-winning works will be on display at the 2016 Bayreuth State Garden Show. He will be presenting further works at various exhibitions. Find out more about the artist here.