Wolfgang Laib

Pollen from Hazelnut 

Since the mid-1970s, Laib (German, b. 1950) has been producing sculptures and installations marked by a serene presence and a reductive beauty. These works are often made from one or a combination of two materials accumulated from natural elements, which have been selected for their purity and symbolic meanings—such as milk, marble, pollen, rice, and beeswax. Forging a singular path for more than 30 years, Laib amplifies the intrinsic materiality, colors, and processes of nature. Laib states that “pollen is the potential beginning of the life of the plant. It is as simple, as beautiful and as complex as this. And of course it has so many meanings. I think everybody who lives knows that pollen is important.”