Johann Feilacher

A Symbiosis of Art and Nature

A Symbiosis of Art and Nature

A Symbiosis of Art and Nature

Johann Feilacher has been climbing mountains since he was young. In an area where forests transition to rugged landscapes, he once discovered old, stone-like pieces of wood in scree slopes. “They were grey,” the artist recounts, “if you cut into their surfaces, you suddenly saw a bright red.” The sight of these objects and their archaic appearance sparked the artistic idea that turned wood into Feilacher’s preferred raw material. “It seems to me that wood is so fitting for the digital age because it is an organic material that continues to move. It creates a counter point to our ‘artificial’ world.” Be it oak, elm or pinewood, Feilacher only uses dead logs. He works on them with a chain saw, but his incisions emerge from a dialog and an attempt to preserve the inner qualities of wood, or, to reveal them. Through his creative process, the dead wood undergoes a metamorphosis and takes on new life and meaning. 

Johann Feilacher, Pinewood Bow, 1998
© State of Lower Austria, Lower Austrian State Collections
Photo: Peter Böttcher

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