Thomas Röthel: On fire for art

Thomas Röthel likes to play with fire: to shape his sculptures from a block of steel, the German sculptor sometimes uses several propane gas burners at once. 

With just a few intuitive movements, he then folds, bends and twists the heated metal - without the need for subsequent corrections.
In each of his unique pieces, Röthel transforms solid metal into an organic and dynamic object.

The following clip offers a brief insight into Thomas Röthel's work:

About the artist

After training as a wood sculptor, Thomas Röthel (*1969 in Ansbach / Middle Franconia) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg and became a master student in 1995. In the same year, he began developing his striking steel sculptures. Through well-considered cuts, sophisticated bends and twists of the evenly glowing steel, objects are created after the material has cooled that seem to defy gravity and radiate an almost graceful lightness in contrast to the unyielding material.

Röthel's conceptual approach and his virtuoso handling of solid steel give rise to artistic forms in which dynamism and tranquillity merge and are thus made tangible in a fascinating way.

Discover more works by Thomas Röthel at ARTES