Lothar

Sculptural beauty inspired by daily life is the guiding force behind Lothar’s work.

In his unique artistic language, he translates small everyday items into huge miracles, bringing life and warmth to the cold solidity of bronze, creating a surface that demands to be touched and a vision that demands to be explored. His work offers a surreal combination of dreams and reality, gravitas and playfulness.

This is seen clearly in his acclaimed collection of cherries for example, which presents perfect pieces of fruit that invite you to take a bite, despite the fact that some pieces are as much as a metre high. These hyper-realistic pieces sit side by side with fantastical interpretations of emotion in the form of huge, bold, mesmerising and, occasionally, broken hearts.

Born in Paramaribo, Surinam, Lothar lived in the Netherlands from 1966 to 2000 and is now based in Vence, France. He exhibits his statement sculpture across Europe, the United States and Singapore.

Lothar creates his breath taking bronze sculpture in a foundry using the time honoured lost wax method which was first used 6,000 years ago. Remaining true to these traditional methods adds a layer of gravitas and authenticity to his highly contemporary and stylish work.

He forms the original figure in wax, then coats it with plaster in order to make a mould. The wax is then heated and poured away leaving the hollow mould ready to be used in the casting of the pure bronze sculpture. The work is then finished by hand, and for Lothar, this stage is key to the success of each piece, whether it is a hyper realistic oversized cherry or a strangely beautiful and surreal broken heart. Creating the patina is a painstaking and highly skilled process in which the surface of the sculpture is burned with acids to achieve the desired shade and texture before wax is once again used, this time for polishing.

Each piece is then mounted on a highly polished reflective base to ensure that they are perfectly balanced and presented with maximum impact.