Jürgen Lingl

Ever since he was young, Jürgen was interested in how the world looks. He drew everything he saw around him; people, animals, things. His sculptures of animals are realistic depictions, yet the roughness of the materials and techniques, juxtaposed with the softness of the pastel colours and the beautiful serenity of the subjects, gives his works a dreamlike quality. Rather than merely showing the viewer an animal, Jürgen strives to make the viewer experience the beauty of the animal.

What makes Jürgen’s art great is that, instead of trying to capture the form of the animal and hoping that its soul will become apparent, he captures their soul, and out of this, its form naturally takes shape. The form is a naturally arising consequence of an idea that is much more fundamental. It is perhaps Jürgen’s rough technique of cutting raw wood with a chainsaw which prevents him from focusing too much on intricately detailed shapes, that would ultimately distract from the ineffable qualities of the animal. It is this “sketch-like” quality of the work that prevents us from being distracted by its form and that allows us to gaze deeper, straight into the soul of the subject. In the case of Jürgen Lingl, the age-old mantra “perfection in imperfection” is truer than ever.