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"Understory" 「林下」Ekkehard ALTENBURGER Vietnamese Lacquer Paintings Exhibition 14.11 - 5.12.2026
Curated and presented by
The Gallery of SOIL
"Trees and forests occupy an important place in German culture,
yet my interest lies less in symbolism than in atmosphere:
the distinct presence of individual trees, the spaces they shape,
and the particular qualities of light they make visible."
Sommerau (V4) (2025)
Vietnamese lacquer on wood
H60 x W45 cm
View Catalogue for Selected Artworks
精選作品目錄
Understory
This exhibition brings together a selection of works I have made over the past three years, centred on a renewed engagement with trees, forests, and landscape. For much of my life, forests and trees held little appeal as subjects. Having grown up on a farm and worked in the forest with my father when I was younger, I tended to keep a certain distance from them in my work.
In recent years, however, I have found myself drawn back to these places. A visit to the Black Forest remains vivid in my mind, but this return has also taken a quieter form: while looking through photographs taken and filed away over many years, I began to sense that these images carried a significance I had not previously recognised.
These works explore landscape through two series based on photographic material I have gathered over many years, while also documenting my journeys through different parts of the world. KEW is developed from a single photograph I took in Kew Gardens, London. Through variation and repetition, the image becomes a site of painterly investigation. These landscape works are almost minimalist miniatures — random excerpts of nature that become unclear in both spatial and temporal context. They arouse curiosity while also inviting a more immediate enjoyment of painting itself: strokes, dots, blocks, surfaces, and depths of colour.
A second group of small-scale compositions focuses on conifers, drawn from memories of the Black Forest, Brittany, and Japan. Unlike the more fragmented and ambiguous spaces of KEW, these works are more specific in form. The trees face towards the light, while their leaves appear as dark patches, pushed back into shadow. What remains is a vague, nostalgic atmosphere — a sense of landscape filtered through memory rather than direct observation.
Trees and forests occupy an important place in German culture, yet my interest lies less in symbolism than in atmosphere: the distinct presence of individual trees, the spaces they shape, and the particular qualities of light they make visible. Together, these works form a small survey of several bodies of work that I have developed, and continue to expand, through my practice in Vietnamese lacquer in Hanoi.
林下
展覽匯集了我過去三年創作的⼀系列精選作品，作品的核⼼在於我對樹⽊、森林及風景的重新審視與探索。在很長⼀段時間裡，我本來對以森林和樹⽊作的創作主題不太感興趣 。儘管我成長於農場，年輕時也曾隨⽗親在林間勞動，但在藝術創作中，我往往會有意與它們保持⼀定距離。
然⽽近年來，我發現⾃⼰重新被這些地⽅所吸引。⼀次 Black Forest 之⾏至今令我記憶猶新，但這種回歸也呈現出⼀種更為靜謐的形態：在翻閱多年來拍攝並存檔的照⽚時，我開始意識到，這些影像蘊含著某種我從前未曾察覺的深意。
這些風景作品包含兩個系列，都是基於我多年累積的攝影素材所創作⽽成，同時也記錄了我遊歷世界各地的⾜跡。 《KEW》系列源⾃我在倫敦 Kew Gardens 拍攝的⼀張照⽚︔透過不斷的變體與重複，原初的影像演變成了⼀個進⾏繪畫性探索的場域。這些風景作品宛如極簡主義風格的微縮畫 — 它們截取了⾃然的⽚段，使空間與時間的脈絡變得模糊。它們既能引發觀者的好奇⼼，又能讓⼈直接領略繪畫本身的魅⼒：筆觸、點、⾊塊、平⾯以及⾊彩的深淺層次。
另⼀組⼩幅作品則以針葉樹為主題，靈感來⾃我對德國 Black Forest 、 法國 Brittany 及⽇本的記憶。與《KEW》系列中那種⽚段式⽽又略帶含糊的空間感不同，這組作品的形態更為具體明確。樹⽊朝向光線，⽽樹葉則呈現為深⾊的⾊塊，隱入陰影之中。畫⾯留存的是⼀種朦朧⽽懷舊的氛圍──那是⼀種經由記憶過濾⽽非直接觀察所呈現的風景意象。
樹⽊與森林在德國⽂化中佔有重要地位，但我更關注的並非其象徵意義，⽽是其營造的氛圍：單株樹⽊獨特的在場感、它們所構築的空間，以及它們所呈現出的獨特光影特質。這些作品共同構成了⼀次⼩型概覽，展⽰了我在河內運⽤越南漆藝進⾏創作並不斷拓展的多個系列作品。
Ekkehard ALTENBURGER
Ekkehard Altenburger (b. 1966) is a German-born sculptor and visual artist now based in Tokyo. Raised on a farm near the Swiss-German border, his early exposure to rural life shaped his enduring interest in natural cycles, materiality, and form. Before formal art studies, he trained as a master mason at the Gothic Cathedral of Schwäbisch Gmünd in Southern Germany, gaining a rigorous understanding of structure and craft.
He studied sculpture at the University of the Arts Bremen under Waldemar Otto, with the significant influence of Yuji Takeoka, and later attended Edinburgh College of Art through an Erasmus scholarship. In 1999, he completed his MA at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, where his practice was shaped by exchanges with Rose Finn-Kelcey and Rebecca Warren.
In 2000, Altenburger established his studio at APT Studios in London and developed an international practice. He has lectured widely, including at Canterbury College of Art, Kingston University, the University of the Arts Bremen, and Saimaa University of Applied Sciences in Finland. His residencies include Sculpture Space in Utica, New York, in 2005, and a research residency at Saimaa UAS in 2015.
In 2017, he moved to Hong Kong to serve as Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. In recent years, Altenburger has immersed himself in traditional Vietnamese lacquer painting under Hanoi artist Đinh Ngọc Cảnh
His encounter with Vietnamese lacquer, or sơn ta, opened a new material language closely connected to his sculptural background. He was drawn to its reliance on natural materials such as eggshell, silver, and lacquer, as well as its layered, labor-intensive processes of painting, curing, polishing, and revealing surfaces.
For Altenburger, lacquer shares affinities with sculpture: both involve building form through material resistance, time, touch, and transformation. The unpredictability of humidity, weather, color shifts, brightness, and surface effects became part of his fascination, introducing chance and surprise into a disciplined craft. In summer 2025, he relocated to Tokyo, and divides his working time between the Hanoi and Tokyo studio.
雕塑及視覺藝術家 Ekkehard Altenburger 1966年出⽣於德國，現居東京。 他在靠近瑞⼠與德國邊境的農場長⼤，早年的鄉村⽣活經歷建⽴了他對⼤⾃然循環、物質和形態上的興趣。在接受正規藝術教育之前，他曾在德國南部 Schwäbisch Gmünd 的哥德式⼤教堂接受過⽯匠⼤師的專業訓練，從⽽對結構與⼯藝有了嚴謹⽽深刻的理解。
他曾於德國 University of the Arts Bremen 師從 Waldemar Otto 學習雕塑，並深受⽵岡雄⼆的影響︔隨後，他憑藉 Erasmus 獎學⾦前往 Edinburgh College of Art 深造。 1999年，他在倫敦 Chelsea College of Art and Design 獲得碩⼠學位，期間與 Rose Finn-Kelcey 及 Rebecca Warren 的交流對其創作實踐產⽣了重要影響。
2000年 Altenburger 在倫敦的 APT Studios 設⽴了⾃⼰的⼯作室，並開啟了國際化的藝術實踐。他曾在多所院校任教或舉辦講座，包括 Canterbury College of Art 、 Kingston University 、University of the Arts Bremen 以及 Saimaa University of Applied Sciences。他的駐場經驗包括2005年在美國紐約 Utica 的「雕塑空間」駐留，以及2015年在 Saimaa University of Applied Sciences 的研究型駐留計畫。
2017年他移居⾹港，擔任⾹港浸會⼤學視覺藝術系雕塑專業助理教授。近年來Altenburger 潛⼼研習越南傳統漆畫，師從河內藝術家 Đinh Ngọc Cảnh 。來⾃雕塑背景的他，與越南漆藝
（ sơn ta）接觸後，啟發了他⼀⾨全新的物質語⾔。這藝術形式深深吸引了他：⼀⽅⾯源⾃於其對蛋殼、銀箔及天然漆等⾃然材料的運⽤︔另⼀⽅⾯則在於其層層疊加、極耗⼯時的製作過程──涵蓋了塗裝、固化、打磨及顯露肌理等多個環節。
在 Altenburger 看來，漆藝與雕塑有著共同點：兩者皆涉及透過材料的阻⼒、時間的推移、觸覺的感知以及形態的轉化來建構形體。濕度、天氣、⾊彩變化、光澤度及表⾯效果所帶來的不可預測性，成為了創作魅⼒的源泉，為這⼀嚴謹的⼯藝注入了偶然性與驚喜。 2025年夏季，他移居東京，⽬前在那裡⽣活與⼯作。
Highlights 亮點
Lake Ashi copse (2026)
Vietnamese lacquer on wood
H40 x W35 cm
Sommerau (V3) (2025)
Vietnamese lacquer on wood
H80 x W80 cm
Sommerau (V2) (2025)
Vietnamese lacquer on wood
H32 x W16 cm
Felsegg Fir (2026)
Vietnamese lacquer on wood
H78 x W24 cm
If you are interested in any of these works, please email to team@craftbysoil.com or WhatsApp 95593908.
若您對任何作品感興趣，請電郵至 team@craftbysoil.com 或 WhatsApp 95593908 查詢，我們樂意為您服務。
Artist Talk
Join us on Thursday, 12 November (7:15 - 8:15pm) and hear Ekkehard Altenburger as he shares his experience working with Vietnamese lacquer with us.
The Gallery by SOIL is dedicated to presenting the art of lacquer from Asia. It is probably the first gallery in Hong Kong which brings together lacquer masters and artists of diverse cultures, blending the traditional with the contemporary to showcase variety in the discipline.
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The Gallery by SOIL
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