LONDON.- Facets offers an insight into the extraordinary work of multi-disciplinary artist Almuth Tebbenhoff, revealing her ongoing investigation into the transformative possibilities of sculptural materials. From clay and steel to marble and paper, the works on display unfold a sensitive, intelligent search for meaning and purpose in both the natural world and the broader universe.

Born in 1949 in Fürstenau, a flat rural region in northwest Germany, Almuth Tebbenhoff’s experiences of vast landscapes and wide night skies fostered a deep connection with the natural world that would later influence her visual vocabulary. She recalls her father, a hobby astronomer, urging her and her sisters to witness the satellite Sputnik through his telescope, visible across the night sky. At the age of 18 she moved to England following a student’s exchange where eventually she studied ceramics at Sir John Cass School of Arts. After completing her studies in 1975, she set up her first studio in London, where, for the next six years she made studio ceramics while developing her ideas for sculpture.

In 1981, Tebbenhoff established her studio in a former church hall in Southfields, London, which remains her primary workshop. Over the years she has created bold work with a variety of materials following training in metal fabrication, marble carving and drawing. She now works with bronze, clay, steel and marble, each material offering its own challenges and opportunities for exploration. The key inspiration though remains steel with its capacity to span distances and create dynamic volume without substance. The process is dramatic with noisy machinery and sparks flying and the effects are instantly visible.

Her early steel pieces (1989-93) were abstract monochromatic explorations of geometric 3D illusions coated with grey industrial paint. The fluorescent paint on the backs gave them the appearance of floating on a mysterious cushion of reflected colour on a white wall. Since the mid-nineties Tebbenhoff has been moving towards a freer mode of expression, creating explosive forms in vibrant colours. Reflecting on her practices Tebbenhoff says: “I love the feel of the materials in my hands - the forming and shaping, the cutting, welding, grinding, chipping, stroking. I try to achieve simplicity and beauty and avoid adding on anything that shouldn’t be there”.

Central to the exhibition, the fractured geometric forms of Petrified Wall I & II (1994) invite viewers to engage with disintegration, deep time and the release of the imagination. The shadows add another layer to deepen the mystery. Similarly Full Disclosure (2014) a rectangular structure of chopped and welded steel appears to succumb to an invisible force, sagging under its own weight, suggesting strength in vulnerability. The work extends rigidly into the spectator’s space, its appearance and colour shifting depending on the viewpoint.

Tebbenhoff creates a sense of tension between the rigidity of steel and the softness of natural forms in works like White Tree (2005) and Rooter (2019). In the former, the metal is shaped into a vertical zigzag, bending in a way that suggest a natural force such as wind pressing against the structure. The piece speaks to the resilience of nature and the push-and-pull between organic growth and human-made interventions. The more delicate Rooter exemplifies Tebbenhoff’s use of natural forms to communicate the power and fragility inherent in nature.

Though she focuses on sculpture, drawing has consistently offered a supporting structure for Tebbenhoff to develop ideas, hone her observational skills and reconcile her experiences.

Landscape with Holes (2022), a recent drawing created during the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, depicts a strange landscape, potted with hollow craters with streams of gasses drifting skywards. This drawing serves as a stirring visual counterpart to her sculptures, demonstrating the same sensitivity to form and an ongoing inquiry into the unconscious forces that shape us and the universe.

This exhibition coincides with the launch of a new monograph about Almuth Tebbenhoff, featuring texts by Amy Dempsey and an introduction by Sue Hubbard. The book is published by Unicorn Publishing and is available for purchase at Pangolin London at the special exhibition price of £35 (RRP £40).

Almuth Tebbenhoff (b.1949, Germany) first came to England on a student exchange and decided to stay. From 1972-75 she studied Ceramics at the Sir John Cass School of Art, London, and in 1981 established a sculpture studio in a former church hall in Southfields, SW London. Over the past five decades, Tebbenhoff has continually expanded her practice. Between 1977-9 she attended drawing classes and lectures at the Royal College of Art by invitation from Sir Eduardo Paolozzi; then, between 1985-86 she studied metal fabrication at South Thames College, London. In 2006, following a scholarship from the Fondazione Studio Sem, she undertook a three month marble carving residency in Pietrasanta Italy. In 1991 she was awarded the prestigious Krasner-Pollock Foundation grant.

Tebbenhoff has taught at the Byam Shaw School of Art, the Loughborough College of Art and Design and a term as a visiting Professor at the Stroganovska Institute in Moscow. She created the Star of London award sculpture for the British Film Institute in 2009 and public works in St. George’s Hospital, SW London, Chiswick Park, London, a suspended sculpture for the library at Leicester University. In 2012 and 2013 she curated the annual sculpture exhibition for Leicester University and was awarded an honorary doctorate.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors since 2003, she was elected Vice President in 2019. In 2017 she became a member of the London Group. Tebbenhoff has exhibited widely across the UK, also in Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Poland, the USA and Hong Kong. Her work The Redhead Sunset Stack (2014-19) was displayed as part of Sculpture in the City (2021) and as part of Shrewsbury Sculpture Trail (2024). The solo exhibition ‘Unsentimental Beauty’ (2023) took place in Gallery Pangolin, Gloucestershire. In April 2025 she will present a solo exhibition ‘Energy Made Visible’ in the Secret Garden, Brighton which will continue until October.