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Renowned for his work in both ceramic and stone, del Cueto teaches ceramic sculpture at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas at the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City. He is a graduate of the Escuela de Cerámica de Manises, Valencia, Spain and took sculpture courses with ceramic and stoneware masters in Galicia and Gerona, Spain and in San Miguel Allende, Guanajuato, Cabo San Lucas, and San Cristóbal las Casas, Mexico. |
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A graduate of both undergraduate and graduate programs in art in Egypt and winner of many awards for the excellence of his work, Hammad has participated in Stone Carving Symposia in Italy, Sweden, Vietnam, Turkey, Holland and Germany. He represented Egypt in the 2005 Vienice Biennale and has exhibited his work throughout the world. In Egypt, his work is featured in the Museum of Modern Art and Egyptian Opera House in Cairo and the Museum of Aswan Sculpture Park. " I have long experience in many international sculpture symposia and enjoy working with artists from different cultures in exchanging ideas and aesthetic values through the creative process of sculpting works from stone. My sculpture contains simple geometries that expresses both power and the softness of organic form." |
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Born in Hiroshima, Okamoto completed the master's program in sculpture at the Tama Art University and he is an alumnus of Stone Carving and Sculpture Symposia Germany, Japan, Holland, Sweden, New Zealand, and Korea. His work has been widely exhibited and collected throughout Japan and Europe. "Stone is living. Stone is weathering slowly in the long span of thousands and ten thousands of years, breathing a very small amount of water and air." |
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Martini is a master sculptor who has taught and exhibited for over thirty years. He studied with marble sculptor Alberto Viani, of Venice, with sculptor Maestro Luciano Minguzzi in Milan, and has participated in numerous workshops with regional and international artists. He taught sculpture at the College of Art at Varese for twenty-three years, and ran a school for foreign sculptors in Pietrasanta, in Tuscany for 13 years. His work has been exhibited throughout Italy and Germany, as well as in Lagos, Nigeria, Mexico City, Tokyo, Venezuela, and Moscow. The choice of the stone is an important moment for Martini. He pays attention to the consistency, veins, and colors in relation to an idea that emerges when he finds a block that appeals to his creativity. Martini describes the process as "a thought that opens itself towards infinity." |
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Having worked in a variety of media, for the past 10 years, Sakari Peltola has concentrated on sculpting works from granite. Finnish granite is (like Minnesota's) one the oldest and most beautiful stones in the world. Peltola deeply respects the nature and history which stone represents. "Stone is a material which human beings have molded for thousands of years. In these modern and hectic days, stone represents to me something real and truthful - something to trust. It doesn't complain or lie." He has created figurative and abstract forms, revealing both serious and humorous issues and themes in his art. "People, at least in Finland, are usually thinking that stone is somehow a serious thing devoid of any joy. I have often used humor in order to make a surprising element and contrast in an otherwise heavy and hard material, though the content of each sculpture might still be quite serious." He has exhibited his work in museum and gallery exhibitions, and in places ranging from urban surroundings to the middle of a forest. He has participated in four sculpture symposiums in Finland and is now organizing an international symposium for 2007. "Taking part in the St. Paul Symposium will be a very important experience for me as an sculptor creating my own work among other artists and as a future Symposium organizer. Perhaps I will meet good artists who would like to take part in our symposium in Finland." |
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Takawira is a member of Zimbabwe's Shona tribe, known throughout history for the beauty of its stone sculpture. He received technical training from his mother and was advised and supported by his elder brothers, John and Bernard, who were both sculptors. Since retiring from the police force in 1980, he has devoted all his working hours to sculpting. For Takawira, every stone is a sculpture, "the only thing that is needed is to remove the dirty parts". He refuses to impose an idea upon a stone. Rather than fighting with it, Takawira will wait to see what the stone says to him. Then, and only then will he begin to carve, releasing and revealing form from within. He works in Springstone, an exceptionally hard and heavy local stone that gives a beautiful finish. He carves with hammers and chisels, rather than power tools. Though his choice of subject matter is almost entirely figurative, Takawira's sculptures reflect much more than the contours of the human body. They are directly connected to the culture and the landscape of Zimbabwe, Mashonaland in particular. Curves and lines reflect those of a graceful, healthy figure and at the same time echo those of the landforms around him. Women are at the heart of his art and his life; his wife is his muse and his mother was his mentor. His stone women are the embodiment of what is to be African. Takawira is just as concerned with the inner life of Zimbabwe as he is with external appearances. His style may be modern but the social history of his forms reflects the cultural landscape in which he lives. His work has been exhibited in Zimbabwe, Germany, England, France, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. |
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Lei Yi Xin is a renowned sculptor from Saint Paul's sister city of Changsha, China. He works in a variety of media to create sculptures on both intimate and heroic scales. Changsha is located in Hunan along the Yangtze River. Yi-Xin hopes to introduce Saint Paul to the artistic charm and spirit of Chinese Hu-Xiang culture, which is found in the region around Chansha. He states, "There is no national boundary for arts: art from different countries, different cultures, all have their own characteristics. It is necessary that there are exchanges, understanding, and mutual studies between the artists, in order to further their artistic development and progress." |
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Zaun is a distinguished artist whose work is represented in institutional and private collections and has been featured in museum exhibitions throughout Germany. He has been on the faculties of the Municipal Academy of Art and Theatre in Neuss and the University of Applied Science in Dusseldorf for more than 25 years and is a founder of the Artists' House in Neuss, a collaborative studio space for artists from an old factory building. He is committed to exploring different approaches and attitudes which inspire and open up the mind to the different and unknown. "It is intriguing to learn how colleagues from other parts of the world: what solutions have they found for which problems? What are their experiences? "My stone carving comprises two different aspects: (1) I work with stone in a classical way. The human figure is at the center of my work and I create figuratively while at the same time abstracting, reducing and only giving hints. But this suffices - the figure is defined. I work with Diabas (Mega Basalt) and Belgian Granite (hard limestone), as well as sandstone, dolomite and occasionally granite. (2) I work with stones in their natural state, hardly changing them, only drilling at the most, in order to join them together in a variety of combinations. With these installations, I define space as the point of reference, concentrating upon the physical quality of forces (expansion, gravity, pressure) and engendering a meditative approach." He is eager explore the urban context of Saint Paul: "I find rivers and ports intensely fascinating. Both your city and mine are located on the banks of large river and important port. I am hoping to get to know your city and your country, and to gain deeper insights into life and society in America." |
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