Ester Christen

I am inspired by trees and the way they relate to each other, often finding similarities with the human world and making associations to interactions between people.

Trees are symbols of strength and calmness, growth and the interconnectedness of everything.

The process starts by choosing a piece of wood to work WITH and then let it decide which direction to go first. It often is an intuitive process where I slowly start to see the figure and am able to free it from the trunk by using hammer and chisel.
It is a long process and full of surprises. One never knows what is hidden inside.
Wood can be challenging and hard but at the same time inspiring and soft.

I have chosen to work with wood because it is alive and forces one to adapt and evolve continuously.

Born into an artistic family in 1987, Ester grew up surrounded by art.
She spends the first three years of her life in Italy. After that, the family decides to move to Switzerland. Since then, she has been living between the two cultures.

Born an observer, she starts to absorb and analyze everything around her from an early age.

In 2003 she starts her education in architecture, while also attending an artistic high school from 2003-2007 (GBMS Zürich).
As part of the final thesis, she chooses to create a sculpture out of a trunk of wood. The given topic is "balance". It was her first experience at sculpting and definitely not what one would call “love at first sight”. She had totally underestimated the amount of work involved.
But 10 years later and with a different mindset she will get back into it. The word "balance" has accompanied her ever since.

After completing her education, she works for various architectural companies but finds that kind of work too limiting.

2012 a period of continuous travel begins. Her hunger for experiencing different cultures and learning more about humanity and what it means to be human is what keeps her going.
In between her travels she experiments with different types of wood. She teaches herse...