Born in Germany, Andreas Krätschmer studied cabinetmaking at l'Ecole des métiers du meuble de Montréal before concentrating his studio practice on woodturning and sculpture.
His work has been exhibited in design festivals, art shows and galleries nationwide. He is the recipient of several Ontario Arts Council and Canada Arts Council grants as well as two DesignTO awards.
He divides his time between Picton, ON and Montreal, QC.
My woodturning practice is rooted in a deep appreciation for the tradition of crafts, the cultural history of artifacts and our human interaction with nature.
I use locally sourced wood that I turn "green" (freshly cut), which introduces natural processes of tension, warping, and cracking as the wood dries. I embrace and amplify these with the use of fire and steam.
Through my work I tell stories of fragility, strength and resilience, drawing parallels between the condition of our ecosystems, the properties of the material wood, and the human experience. There is inherent beauty in cracks, imperfections, and the process of aging. Once we embrace this, we can find both strength and calm in our own lives.
