Hans Weissflog

Hans Weissflog’s work appeared on the woodturning scene in the early 1990s, creating a sensation. Weissflog’s small, intricate box forms were linked to traditions and approaches that had little in common with the bowls and vessels predominating the field and his technical mastery and design sense amazed viewers in person and in print. Weissflog began to explore bowl forms in the mid-90s. His approach married the techniques and design elements of his smaller forms to create a distinctive body of work. Weissflog received the highest honor for a German craft artist, The Lower Saxony State Award in 1994.

Weissflog’s more recent work has explored the juxtaposition between raw, organic aspects of wood with the highly controlled, detailed approach that he is best known for. His work raises the bar technically and expands the potential of the wood medium. Weissflog is increasingly interested in showing that shape and has no limitations.

Weissflog describes his artistic process: “Klein und Fein” (German for “small and fine”) is my motto. And contrary to popular belief, I believe that it is still possible to create good work by hand. I have never been able to understand why people feel that work created 100 years ago is superior to the work being created by artists today. After all, the equipment we have to work with now is much better than anything that was available to the artisan of years gone by. In my opinion, one has only to be willing to spend the required amount of time to produce a truly exquisite piece. I have always been intrigued by the seemingly unlimited diversity of shapes that can be achieved on the lathe. As a designer, I am always seeking out new possibilities and challenges. My work is always expanding by transforming these possibilities into reality.