Walter OltmannInstar I, 2023
Walter Oltmann’s work reveals a profound engagement with themes of transformation, transience, and the natural world. Following his receipt of the Edoardo Villa Extraordinary Award for Sculpture, he created a series of sculptures that showcase meticulous hand-weaving in wire and emphasize slow, meditative processes. Among these, his intricate, carefully woven insect suits reflect the painstaking rhythms of metamorphosis and hatching found in insect life. In a 2014 interview with Cintia Vargas, Oltmann explained, “My caterpillar suits explore a hybrid space between insect and human. They resemble empty shells left behind after larval molting.” Drawing inspiration from camouflage, insect forms, and organic structures, his practice investigates cycles of life, extinction, and renewal.
