Walter Oltmann

Samara, 2023

Since the 1980s, Walter Oltmann has explored the relationship between fine art and craft through hand-fabricated wire sculptures that draw on southern African wirework and domestic textile traditions. His intricate works evoke fragility, the passage of time, and transformation, often combining delicate ornamentation with unsettling or ambiguous subject matter. Empty suits, which appear frequently in his practice, act as surrogates for the body. They suggest a state of transition or metamorphosis and invite viewers to imagine a shared space between human, plant, and animal life.