Ueli Torgler




The artist Ueli Torgler from Glarus has been a guest in the studio of the Sitterwerk in stages since September 2014. He is working here on a clay garden, examining the circumstances of the material, of building as well as of the garden landscape coming into being. The patron edition Wurmgold (Worm Gold) was created from this work and is directly available in the Sitterwerk. It goes back to one of Ueli Torgler’s older works, for which he had a worm ball cast in the original size.
Behind the work studio of the Kunstgiesserei, Torgler is modeling a clay landscape, which he understands as a sketch for a larger garden work. His examination circles around the question of the work of a gardener in a garden:—What if the gardener molded instead of weeding and mowing the grass? The guest artist allows himself be caught off guard by the substance and its given facts such as the influence of weather and various tools. Torgler is examining not only the landscape coming into being, but also the building process itself, which he keeps speculative and spontaneous; in which he has allowed space for spontaneous processes. He is interested in the continuity of molding and taking care of a garden laid out in this way and, in the process, does not exclude the possibility that plants and other elements such as moss, for example, also have a place in it. Parallel to the clay garden, Torgler is also establishing moss cultures in the existing greenhouse. Ueli Torgler, who is living in Hamburg, will be working on the clay garden in stages as a guest artist until mid of 2017.
The project is being supported by:
Stiftung Anne-Marie Schindler, Ennenda (GL)
Brauchli Ziegelei AG
Kulturförderung des Kantons Glarus / Swisslos Kulturfonds (project contribution 2015/16)
Markus and Brigitte Rauh
ZZ Wancor AG
Some of his work was shown in the group exhibition Imagination of Nature at the Alte Fabrik, Rapperswill. From May 1, until June 28, 2015.