I met up with him at his studio, which is located beside the Nestlé building in Cham and is thronged with finished sculptures, mastic and metal models, and large pieces of sequoia wood. The tree this came from suffered a massive fungal attack and unfortunately had to be felled. Luckily, however, the intact trunk can be worked into something new. This was how Schmidlin got his current assignment. He loves working with this type of wood, not least because it is so well suited to use outdoors.
The space at Papieri in Cham allows him to work in peace and quiet, but he is respectful of his neighbors and tries to be as unobtrusive as he can. At around 5 pm, the engine shed falls silent; Schmidlin wants to ensure that he can go on working on his next big commission for the Wrestling Festival in this inspiring setting, after all. Creating a piece of this kind can take a whole year due to changes in the nature of the wood that occur in the intervals between the different phases. The wood may still be somewhat damp at the beginning. In this state, it is easier to saw and work with, but it’s also much heavier. At the end, it needs to dry out completely before it can be painted.
Photos courtesy of Alex Jeschek, who has been following and documenting the Wrestling Festival project throughout.
