Artistic Philosophy and History

“Christiane Stolhofer’s work talks of more private, indefinable areas of our sense and sensibilities, using a subtle vocabulary. Sculptures that engage in conversation with quieter, more vulnerable, regions of feeling and thought. Memory is an important feature of her works: archaeology of the bush, memory of its trees, creatures, spirits and dreams. Her creatures are imaginary, but they closely resemble wild animals: dialogue of one cultural heritage to another, of one speech to another.”

– Olivier Sultan

 

Artistic Philiosphy

My work is motivated through the inner life of trees, the visual expression moves between pure form and the suggested shapes of birds and other creatures of nature, seeking to express the vital relationship to each other and to human beings. It tunes into the energetic connection we all share and have to be committed to, in order to sustain our living environment. We are inseparably part of the spirit, the life force of nature and it is essential for us to respectfully and lovingly embrace and protect our natural home.

 

Personal History

Austrian – born Christiane came to Zambia as a nurse in the 1970s. In 1983, renowned Zimbabwe sculptor Joseph Ndandarika handed her a piece of stone and said “Work on it!” Before long, Christiane had become a full-time artist, carving springstone and serpentine. Her style gradually evolved from representational figures to more abstract shapes that evoked natural landscapes and the creatures living there.

The great mentors in Christiane’s development were Zimbabwe’s stone sculptor Nicholas Mukomberanwa und Susanne Wenger in Oshogbo, Nigeria.

In a year-long in trip in 1987 through Central and West Africa, she was impressed by local woodcarvers, and the strong relationship of both art and artists to local forests and beliefs. On her return to Zimbabwe, Christiane began to combine her stone pieces with local indigenous wood. She explored woodlands, learning the names of local trees, and collecting and planting their seeds. The beauty and variety of woods captured her imagination, and she moved more and more to carving fallen limbs, tree roots and posts from old farm kraals.

Working in northern Botswana between 2006 and 2022, Christiane’s inspiration has come from the exquisite beauty of the Okavango Delta, its clear waters surrounded by forests of Mopane trees. Mopane, with its fine, even grain and deep warm color, has become the signature material for Christiane’s Botswana wood sculptures.

Between 2012 and the end of 2021 Christiane facilitated many wood sculpture workshops for the Hambakushu and San carvers, financed by the Botswana Ministry of Education and the Austrian Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa. It was the most meaningful work she had ever don

In 2022 Christiane moved to Saskatoon where she started to work with Canadian woods like Western Yellow and Red Cedar, Manitoba Maple and Red Oak. In 2025 she moved to her final home in Deerville, New Brunswick, where she is carrying on creating wood sculptures.

 

Christiane in her workshop in Deerville, New Brunswick, Canada in 2025.

Download Christiane’s Curriculum Vitae here.