Christiane Löhr

A sheaf of grass stalks suggests the look of a filigreedome, burs agglutinate to form organic receptacles,winged seeds amass in gossamer nets to create large cushions-and it is only upon second glance that the observer realises the whole thing is made from natural materials. Christiane Löhr has been working for over ten years now with garnered materials: plant seeds, burs,grasses, animal hair. Unlike the work of, say, Wolfgang Laaib, she arranges and constructs minimalist objects from these materials by translating the inherent structural components into a new architectural form. In this way an amazing collection of curious has come into being, which this book duly summarises in detail for the first time, the drawings and the large-format oil pastels not withstanding. Giuseppe Panza di Biumo-whose famous collection in Varese, Italy with all its fantastical installations by Judd, Flavin or Turrell, draws thousands of visitors each year-sums it up well in his short contribution: »A few words would suffice to describe her work:simplicity, modesty, the great beauty of the little thingsin nature, to which one often pays scant attention.«