Maja Thommen

Swiss-born artist Maja Thommen’s bas-reliefs – a sculptural technique that raises forms and figures above the background plane, combines archaic with contemporary techniques. The delicate fiber resin surfaces of her works vibrate in soft light. Thommen’s latest series “Swim” examines humanity and its relation to the natural world, particularly that of water.

As a set of five stark white relief panels, Thommen carves the various shapes of water, from the storm to a riverbed without water. Through viewer’s sensitivity to subtle variations in the reliefs and materials employed, the movements draw us deeper within the sculpture examining the unique power and mysterious hold that water has on us. Each with a distinctive, apparently abstract pattern, the focus remains on the techniques and different movements of the artist’s hand. The sculptures become self-sufficient, representing nothing but itself.

Thommen studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Carrara which is internationally known for marble carving and sculpture located in north-ern Tuscany but later turned away from marble to dedicate her passion to bronze, developing her exhibition activity since 1996 mostly in the German-speaking countries and more recently in Switzerland. Employing the skills learned from the master carvers in Camaiore/ Pietrasanta, for the past three years her sculptures have been basreliefs in acrylic resin or concrete.