without further ado (7.20) Sculpture

It was love at first sight when, at the age of 19, Monika Majer worked on her first stone - a travertine. She and a Stuttgart based sculptor had unearthed it from a now defunct quarry in Bad Cannstatt. Afterward, the sculptor gifted her a small beige bucket that contained masonry tools; inscribed on the bucket was "Do it!" And so she did. After her formal studies, Ms. Majer graduated with distinction as a stonemason, receiving the honor of being “Germany's Best.” She subsequently accepted a scholarship to study at the Academy of Design in Ulm. By the year 2000, the well trained artist–now a mother of two children–began to work as a freelance sculptor in her own studio, and a year later, she and her husband founded the company, stein gestalten (designing stone). In addition to commissioned orders of grave stones, the versatile sculptor now worked on bringing to life her own ideas, exhibiting her work, creating large pieces at symposia for sculptors, and designing art for public spaces. Following the death of beloved people close to her, Monika Majer left stein gestalten. Plunged into a deep crisis, she began studying intermedial art therapy. She began to integrate the approaches taught in art therapy into her own practice. This expanded her spectrum of artistic creation and deepened her creative expression, all the while it allowed her to search for her own style. Grounded in a well-founded practice of yoga and meditation, she also immersed herself in dance and poetry, all the while she rediscovered her love for nature. Already a long-time lecturer for plastic design, drawing and artistic project work, she now developed a teaching style that seeks to combine a direct challenge to students’ personal development and artistic expression. During this time, Ms. Majer–now a young grandmother–developed her own work in ways that launched her first solo exhibitions and performance art events. Inspired by an injury to her right hand, the artist discovered an urge to shape her own casting technique. By ways of this process, she found a completely new design language, using one hand only (the left). She explored this design language further and uses it now to create sculptures, ranging from small to very large pieces. The sensual experience during the molding of casting forms left deep imprints on the artist. With her right hand healed, she now follows her love for stone with both hands.