ABOUT

Vinko Nino Jaeger

is an artist working primarily in wood.

In his works, he explores the dialogue between human consciousness, body, history and nature, as embodied in the material wood. Through the act of carving, he enters into dialogue with the tree and creates sculptural works that harmonise human presence and the memory of the wood. The idea of metamorphosis runs through all his works, with humans transforming into other forms and becoming one with other beings.

Working from his studio in Lower Austria, Vinko Nino Jaeger produces unique pieces and limited editions that are signed and numbered. Selected works are available in Vienna.

Vinko Nino Jaeger studied Contextual Painting and Object Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Art Vienna.

The practice of Vinko Nino Jaeger is rooted primarily in sculpture, with a focus on hand-carved wooden objects that explore the tension between figuration and abstraction, body and archetype, stillness and transformation.

Working predominantly with regional and reclaimed woods, each sculpture is shaped through direct carving. Traditional surface techniques such as Yakisugi and shellac finishing are employed to deepen the material's tactile and visual presence, revealing traces of growth, time, and elemental force. Many works exist as unique pieces or in very small editions, conceived as autonomous sculptural bodies rather than functional objects.

The sculptural work is understood as a form of sculptural writing — a process in which carving becomes a physical mode of inscription. Rather than representation alone, the practice is driven by an inner expression that takes form through material. This inner articulation manifests in both abstract sculptures and animal figures, where bodily gesture, reduction, and symbolic presence converge.

As early as 40,000 years ago, humans created small sculptures on whose surfaces they left marks. Some were so small that they fit in the palm of a hand and could be easily carried away. Even though these earliest marks—lines, dots, and intersecting lines—do not yet constitute writing, their systematic nature allows them to be classified as communicative traces. Vinko Nino Jaeger sees this sculptures as early versions of books.
His sculptures take up this tradition and combine it with the memory of the tree, which is revealed in the material of wood, transforming it into written texts. These texts are a dialogical connection between humans and trees/nature, of which we are a part.

Through the use of hand tools, the artist remains in close physical dialogue with the wood. The body participates directly in the shaping process and in the formation of the surface. In this exchange, the body communicates with the material and inscribes itself into it. Art historian Vojtěch Volavka described this process as sculptural handwriting — a corporeal trace embedded within form. In this way, unique pieces emerge: objects that appear less as designed artefacts and more as individuals entering into relation with their counterpart.

Alongside the sculptural work, seating sculptures emerge as an extension of this exploration — translating sculptural thinking into the realm of use. These pieces oscillate between studio furniture and collectible design while maintaining the formal and material language of the sculptures. Conceived as embodied sculptures and participatory objects, they are not complete forms in isolation but relational works that reach their full presence through human interaction. The act of sitting activates the work as an activated form: the body becomes part of the sculptural composition, temporarily completing the object and entering into dialogue with it.

Writing and photography accompany the practice as parallel forms of research and reflection. In the publication Holzskulpturen selbst gemacht. Queer Notizen zum schreibenden Körper, carving, body, and process are examined through a hybrid form of manual, essay, and artistic notation. Photography holds an equally central role, transforming and commenting the wooden sculptures and the body of the artist. 

The works are conceived as quiet, enduring presences — situated between sculpture, craft, and contemporary material discourse.

HOLZSKULPTUREN SELBST GEMACHT

Queere Notizen vom schreibenden Körper

Writing and photography accompany the practice as parallel forms of research and reflection. In the publication Holzskulpturen selbst gemacht. Queer Notizen zum schreibenden Körper, carving, body, and process are examined through a hybrid form of manual, essay, and artistic notation. Photography holds an equally central role, transforming and commenting the wooden sculptures and the body of the artist.

The language of this book is german.

HOLZSKULPTUREN SELBST GEMACHT

Queere Notizen vom schreibenden Körper

Dies ist kein do it yourself Buch. Zwar wird in Ansätzen die Herstellung einer dreibeinigen Sesselskulptur vorgeführt, jedoch wird das Anleitungsformat deutlich überschritten. Gute Tipps werden zu poetischen Formationen, Übungen zu körperlich-geistigen Herausforderungen existentieller Natur. Dabei begibt sich die Skulptur auf eine Wanderung, die in einen Dialog mit verschiedenen Bäumen in der Gegend von Prein an der Rax mündet.
Vinko Nino Jaeger zeigt: Handwerk und Kunst sind keine Gegensätze, sondern im Ergebnis Sprachrohr des (trans:) Körpers.

Verlag Bibliothek der Provinz

2021

ISBN: 978-3-99126-059-2
23 x 22 cm, 152 Seiten, zahlr. z.T. farb. Abb., Hardcover

€ 29.-

Copies of the book can be acquired directly via the studio.