A Canadian artist, Jim has produced both gallery and large scale works in granite, marble, sandstone and other media. He especially enjoys the skills and techniques required when creating on a monumental scale in granite. Jim has participated in numerous international sculpture symposiums. He has won awards and public commissions for his work and has shown in many art exhibitions. Jim graduated from The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1986.

“I love the challenge of creating a sculpture from a large piece of granite. Every stone has its own individual characteristics and nuances that are revealed by the process of carving. My work is an attempt to find a harmony of form and texture often inspired by organic and fluid forms found in our natural world.” (Boyd, 2024)

Yoshiho Futo, born in 1998, resides in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. She studied sculpture for six years at Kyoto Seika University, primarily focusing on creating sculptures using marble. Embracing the concept of affection and warmth, Futo seeks to capture the beauty of stone through textures and curved lines.
In 2022, she was awarded the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum Award at the Ube Biennale in Japan. Her works have been exhibited at various events, including the 29th Ube Biennale in Yamaguchi (2022) and "Presence that Intervenes" in Kyoto (2021). (Futo, 2024)

Ryszard Litwiniuk, born 1966, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk. Between 1998 and 2013 he lived and worked in Canada. Currently he works in Warsaw and Zutawy. He deals with sculpture, drawing, graphics and installation and nature art. The search for his own form of expression goes towards metaphysics and the energy hidden inside the material in which he works. Litwiniuk is interested in creating his own language of sculpture in the context of the system of work and his own method of treating the material. His area of interest includes the solid in its entire volume, its structure and architecture, as well as internal molecular connections of matter. By opening the interior of a tree or stone, he obtains a spatial form of sculptures. By creating, he rejects unnecessary tools, eliminates unnecessary details, narration and decorations, the excess of which often disturbs. He subordinates his aspirations not to the final form, but to the very process of creation and to the material he has at his disposal at a given moment. (Litwiniuk, 2024)

Valerie Funk’s works ask how human bodies respond to the social crises of our time. Through her own bodily experiences, she develops unusual and irritating forms that allude to personal situations, simultaneously evoking the contorted conditions of society as a whole. These forms aim to provide the public an opportunity to enter into an aesthetic exchange with their own physical sensations.

The varied materials Funk uses are central to her work. Individual materials and their specific properties posses their own intrinsic characteristics. She manipulates into form a balance between a material’s guidance of her hand, but also control over a material’s resistance to change. In so doing her working process is evidenced through tool markings; their remaining raw and irritated surfaces descriptive of the same intense physical labor required to bring the forms into being. (Funk, 2024)

Rob Good, holds a first class BA (hons) degree in Sculpture from the University of Leeds, and a MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts.  Rob Good regards sculpture as a vehicle with the potential to carry us away from ourselves. Focusing on elements of the natural landscape, such as rivers, trees or clouds, he often employs traditional materials to create objects which spur the imagination and tell stories. The sculptures aim to be poetic, with intrinsic rhythm and balance. (nationalsculptureprizeblog, 2018)

In the artworks of Nilhan Sesalan, we witness a constant effort to perceive everything as ‘it is’, along with interpretations of references from archaeology, architecture, literature and nature at the level of a daily life that gradually becomes more indirect. A deep historical-cultural accumulation underlies the past of her works, associations and stress underlie their present, and an eternal inference and tranquillity mark their future.

In her hands, the themes which range from the human life to the mysteries and chaos of nature transform into the tranquillity of endless associations of an artwork that owns its own freedom; like a dervish who whispers rich, deep, confident and grand thoughts.

Observing Sesalan’s artworks which are displayed in various collections, parks and museums, it can be said that she is one of the representatives of lyrical abstraction. (Sesalan, 2024)

Simon Te Wheoro is a contemporary Māori visual arts and design artist from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Known for his versatility in working with stone, wood, paint, and Tā Moko (Māori tattoo), Simon creates artwork that reflects his Māori heritage, focusing on themes that encapsulate the essence of his culture's rich storytelling traditions, the harmony between art and nature, along with a commitment to environmental stewardship. He aims to honour the natural flow and form of materials, enhancing their inherent beauty by integrating Māori motifs with modern design elements.
Simon's artistic journey has included national solo and group exhibitions, numerous commissions for private collectors, community projects with public installations, and collaborations that engage a global audience. By honouring his tupuna (ancestors), Simon seeks to inspire others, foster cross-cultural connections, and promote the rich tapestry of Māori culture. He is dedicated to preserving and sharing his mātauranga (knowledge) of Māori heritage and artistic traditions for future generations. (Te Wheoro, 2024)

"Since my academic years, my work has been based on continues research and exploration of the inner feelings and thoughts as well as sculptural forms, materials and space. My sculptures have always been a product of one specific theme. The topics I use are usually personal observations or site-specific topics, and the product of the invested energy and time (mental and physical intervention) ends up in a serial of sculptures or monumental sculpture of large dimensions. My focus was always on the creative process of the pieces, putting all my energy inside them, making them alive and independent, even though they were part of bigger picture." (Paunović, 2024)

Martin Kuhn (1966) is a German sculptor who, after studying sculpture in Hannover/Germany and as a master student of the Japanese sculptor Makoto Fujiwara, moved his center of life and artistic work to Norway in 1998. With a workshop directly in a quarry, it is the blue crystalline Larvikite that Kuhn uses primarily for large-format sculptures in public spaces. Inspiration is the search in the industrial environment for suitable stone templates, which in combination with water or wood create a composition and communicate with figurative or abstract formal language. Always in focus is the interplay between underlining the beauty of the natural stone and an applied theme. Kuhn's sculptures are mostly site-specific and invite to experience and linger. (Kuhn, 2024)

Information/ links:

Tools and equipment in Larvik/Sandefjord:

www.s-tandberg.no

www.terox.no

www.tools.no

www.byggmakker.no

Stay in Norway:

www.udi.no/en/

www.schengenvisainfo.com/norway/entry-requirements/

www.norway.no/en/

www.regjeringen.no/en/id4/

www.internations.org/norway-expats/guide/healthcare#:~:text=While%20public%20healthcare%20is%20available,2%2C040%20NOK%20(222%20USD)

Travel:

https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-tips-a-z/

https://avinor.no/en/airport/oslo-airport/plan-your-trip/passports--customs/customs

https://www.toll.no/en/shopping-abroad/the-value-limit/

https://www.mattilsynet.no/en

https://www.tax-free.no/en/kundeservice/kvote

Airports/ train station/ ferry:

Oslo Airport: www.avinor.no/flyplass/oslo/

Sandefjord Airport: www.torp.no/en/welcome-to-torp-sandefjord-airport/

Train: www.vy.no

Boat: www.colorline.no

Bus: www.nor-way.no/en