LOTHAR BÖTTCHER

“Light is my medium. I use glass to manipulate light, to create another dimension, enticing the viewer to look through the glass and see the contiguous space within and beyond, stimulating thought and awareness, trying to make sense of the universe and our place in it”

Using almost forgotten cold working techniques (grinding and polishing of glass) Böttcher creates one-off sculptures, often in combination with other materials such as steel and stone. Böttcher exhibits regularly in group shows across South Africa. He is represented in the Pretoria Art Museum’s new acquisitions, the Hadamar Glass Museum, Germany and numerous private collections locally and internationally.

In 2016 his work was published in Glass Art, 112 Contemporary International Artists by Barbara Purchia and E. Ashley Rooney, published by Schiffer Books.He also co-curated Out of the Fire, Into the Light with Dr. Ingram Anderson at the Pretoria Arts Association - a national group show of contemporary glass art.Blow Your Sculpture is another collaborative project instigated and curated by Lothar which will see its third season kicking off during May 2018 culminating in a group show at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2019. The aim of this ongoing project is to introduce artists to the potential of glass as a creative medium and grow the local Hand Made Glass Industry.

He has several awards behind his name including a top 10 finalist in the 2007 ABSA L’Atelier competition and publication of his work in the New Glass Review 32 (2011) and New Glass Review 38 (2017) an annual juried catalogue including only 100 works of International Glass Art published by the Corning Museum of Glass, USA.

Each sculpture is unique. An underlying theme of experimental endeavour and philosophical queries into the perception of our immediate world related to the viewer and their experience is prevalent in most of his work. His unique combination of materials and sometimes quirky narrative entices the viewer to come closer and interact, bringing the experience of immediacy back into our lives.

Eye Pods

Vision is the most important of our five senses, and by far the richest in information content.” - Ben Bova, The Story of Light

Glass has been part of my oeuvre for over two decades. It is through glass that Galileo peered into the skies and saw how huge the space out there is; and by means of the microscope van Leeuwenhoek perceived the invisible universe around us.Light bent through this virtuous medium has catapulted our knowledge and understanding of the cosmos and our place in it.These curios minds inspire me. Vision, looking, seeing are integral to my work.Effortlessly we see. No second thoughts on how it all functions, the lens, nerves and autocorrection within our visual cortex. It is within our minds we perceive.

My Eye Pod sculptures explore these possibilities glass offers. Touching on science theyresemble the anatomy of our visual organ, where the spectator assembles familiar shapes- white (eye) ball, colourful disk (iris), black dot (pupil) - into a narrative; an image; the eye.I love the irony in these works, as it’s with our own eyes we look at those eyes looking back at us - a constant feedback loop is created.And therein lies the magic. Each sculpture “flickers” alternating images as you move past, enticing the viewer to come closer, to look deeper and explore the excitement of seeing.