Knut Hueneke

“What brought me to the Northwest were images of Columbia Basalt columns”, says stone sculptor, Knut Hueneke.  A residence of Heidelberg, Germany, Knut traveled to Washington to teach in this year Annual Northwest Stone Sculpting Symposium in Mt. Vernon.

Knut approaches his artwork holistically.  Keeping in mind that whether the sculpture ends up as a figure, bird or animal, that it began as a stone that has admirable qualities before he applies the chisel.

Before Knut flew back to Germany, he brought three of his sculptures to Camano Island to be exhibited at Matzke Fine Art Sculpture Park.

“Totem Column”, standing nearly 9 feet tall, Knut states he was inspired by the shamanistic ideas of the Native Americans. “When I go to a landscape, to work in it, aspects of its geology and history are of great importance for me.”

Since I know that their totem poles are story telling and every single detail has a meaning, I took one of those Basalt columns and arranged three elements on top of each other. To me, it is the story of men kind: The bear on the bottom resembles the animalistic power, the world that we came from. The anthropomorphic form in the middle resembles us and our present world. And the bird on top is the symbol of spirit and wisdom.”

The lines are made by a diamond blade and a hand chisel and resemble lines in a drawing. The carving process is fast and spontaneous. Knut would consider the sculpture as a three dimensional Sketch.

Knut Heneke, born 1962 in Darmstadt, Germany,  served his apprenticeship as stonemason and sculptor in Freiburg.  Knut has carved all over the world, Egypt, Aswan, Namibia and now the Northwest. His work has been in various national and international projects and exhibitions.

To me, the synthesis of material and idea requires that you only take away as much as necessary to let the figure emerge and leave as much as possible to the stone.

You can view Knut sculptures at Matzke Fine Art Gallery and Sculpture Park, 2345 Blanche Way, Camano Island  any weekend 11 to 5, or weekdays by appointment 360-387-2759.