Tim Udvardi-Lakos
& Felix Votteler
Tim Udvardi-Lakos
I use the lost-wax casting technique for its transformative qualities. Each piece begins with hand-modeling wax, where my gestures and fingerprints are directly embedded in the material. After the mold is coated and fired, the wax disappears, giving way to a void into which molten metal takes shape. This transition from the ephemeral to the durable gives rise to pieces that are cast together, then separated and individually finished, like fruits from the same tree.
Some of the precious metal is lost during the shaping process. I carefully collect these remnants over the course of a year before purifying them through melting and casting them into ingots. These are then forged into bowls that retain on their surface the marks of the process: hammer traces, cracks, textures, and scars of labor. The objects thus become the material memory of a creative cycle in which time and transformation remain visible.
Felix Votteler
Felix Votteler is a contemporary woodturner based in Germany whose work explores the deep connection between nature, memory, and humanity. He views trees as living witnesses of time and bases his practice on wood sourced from urban or historically significant sites. Through woodturning, he transforms this material into sculptural forms guided by grain, cracks, and natural tensions, allowing the material to shape both form and expression.
His work takes on a strong memorial dimension through major projects such as the trilogy made from ash trees from the Jewish cemetery in Wankheim and the Wooden Archives series, created from trees taken from the former Nazi extermination center of Grafeneck. In these works, growth rings and visible scars become carriers of collective memory and individual histories. Exhibited and awarded internationally, Felix Votteler develops a practice where craftsmanship and conceptual commitment converge.
