Lars Widenfalk (born 31 July 1954) is a Swedish artist who works as a sculptor in Sweden, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and Italy. He is considered to have helped renewed figurative expression in Nordic sculpture. He works with many materials, from

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

, snow and

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

. But his main material is stone, usually

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

. In recent years, he has also worked with glass. He is married to the Czech artist

Alena Matejka Alena Matejka (also Alena Matějková; born 26 January 1966) is a Czech sculptor and glass designer. She also works with other materials, often in combination. Education Matejka was born in Jindřichův Hradec; she studied at the Secondary S ...

.Yman, Bosse. ''Lars Widenfalk skulptör utan gränser'' Magasinet Herjedalen. Vinter/vår 2012.'' W-cross-my-heart-marble-LW

Education

Widenfalk was born in

Sveg Sveg () is a locality and the seat of Härjedalen Municipality in Jämtland County, Sweden with 2,547 inhabitants in 2010. Overview Sveg is the largest urban area in Härjedalen and the fourth largest in the county of Jämtland. The Ljusnan river ...

Härjedalen Härjedalen (; no, Herjådalen or ) is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province (''landskap'') in the centre of Sweden. It borders the Norway, Norwegian county of Trøndelag as well as the provinces of Dalarna, Hälsingland, Medelpad, and Jä ...

, Sweden. He studied

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

, Sweden. Later, he studied at the

Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts The Norwegian National Academy of Arts ( no, Statens kunstakademi) is a Norwegian Academy offering studies in the area of Fine Art. The Academy currently offers 3-year bachelor and 2-year MA programmes. The "Norwegian National Academy of the Arts" ...

in Oslo (1982–85) focusing on the three dimensional work. He chose Oslo due to a desire to work with figurative sculptures.

Work

Lars Widenfalk has been involved in several projects in the three-dimensional expression, often in collaboration with his wife Alena Matejka. She is educated in the Czech

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n glass tradition. It was she who introduced him to the crystal glass, a material he often uses in combination with stone. His imagery is figurative. His early works were often realistic and figurative. But this has changed to sculptures with

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

ic and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

ish expression. Many of his works center around the theme of ''place and people''. For example, his work on the room or the house, is usually open with simple geometric shapes. Marked only by four corner columns and a roof. Usually a full-length human or a human head is located in the house. He has also built several large

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

s, where he puts his sculptures along with living fish. In water the stone's color becomes much more intense. One of his major works are the black violin, '' Blackbird'', made from stone after drawings by Antonio Stradivari (Stradivarius), but with some technical adjustments in order to play. The violin is made of

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...

(dolerite), a rock that was left over from his grandfather's tombstone. At its thinnest the stone is just 2.5 mm thick. The thin walls of the resonance box was contour cut with water and then machined with hand tools. It took two years to make the violin.Kalsi, Jyoti. ''As a work of art it is unique''. ''Gulf News''. (tabloid) February 1, 2005. An installation ''Cross My Heart'', St. Agostino, Pietrasanta, Italy, in 2011, consisted of twelve rather like sculptures of maidens with their arms crossed over the chest, made of white marble. A similar sculpture of a woman with arms crossed, is ''Listen to Your Heart'', a granite sculpture with a height of 260 cm. He has had numerous exhibitions, most in Sweden, but several abroad, mainly in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and Italy. Lars Widenfalk is represented in various collections, including the Swedish State Art Council, Göteborgs Art museum, Sundsvalls Museum and House of Parliament in Sweden. Also Norwegian Arts Council and Contemporary Modern Museum in Norway.

Notes and references

Literature

* Caine, Alen. ''Masters and Emerging Sculptors from Studio Sem, Pietrasanta.'' Page 9-43. * Forsberg, Carl. ''Less is more.'' Sculpture Review. Vol LV. No.3 2006. Page 32–37. (USA) * Kalsi, Jyoti. ''As a work of art it is unique''. ''Gulf News.'' (tabloid) 1. February 2005. Page 5. (Dubai) * Pettersson, Jan Åke. ''Katalogtext för utställing på Brandts Klaedefabrik, Town Art Hall. Odense, Danmark 1989.'' * Tovik, Arne. ''Reiste seg etter hærverket''. Varden. Kultur. 5. juni 2005. Skien/Oslo. 2005. Page 42. (Norway) * Stephens, C.S. ''Kawaguchi Public Art.'' 2003. Page 41. (Japan) * Yman, Bosse. ''Lars Widenfalk skulptör utan gränser''. Magasinet Herjedalen. Vinter/vår 2012. Page 62–69. pdf

External links

Lars Widenfalk – homepage

''Face II Face'' – Lars Holm and Lars Widenfalk
– Art exhibition in Linneanum, Botanical Garden, Uppsala 2009
''Blackbird the Black Stone Violin ''
– The volinist Guo Jia Yin play on the stoneviolin {{DEFAULTSORT:Widenfalk, Lars 1954 births Swedish male sculptors Living people