Dear Jan, how did you come to do what you do now?

Jan: I've always had a connection to wood through my father, who is a forester. And artistically more through my mum. After my carpentry apprenticeship, it was clear that I wanted to do something artistic and then I ended up studying design. I stayed with wood, but I'm also open to all kinds of artistic activities. That's how the pictures were created on the lathe. I always see machines as a challenge. So I take a practical approach and think about what else a machine can do. And from this I then create constructions or paint pictures or do ‘crazy things’ with it. But my basis has always remained wood.

You say you looked for and found the studio here at the Areal Böhler?

Jan: Yes, or maybe it found me. It all came about through Gudrun Schuster, who asked me. But I had already visited the Areal beforehand and naturally liked it. A year later, by chance, the space became available and she asked me directly, so I took the opportunity because I thought the space here was simply unique.

Why is the Areal Böhler the perfect location for you?

Jan: My objects naturally have an incredibly good effect in the high rooms. The industrial architecture and the old industrial windows - they are simply made for art. So it has a lot to do with the spatial effect. You need a certain room size to be able to perceive the art, to go in and look. The space can never be big enough and here it's just great for a showroom. It may be out of the way, but it's still nice. My space is the only room here in our shared studio that is so beautifully renovated, it's the perfect contrast and you could say you enter a parallel world here.

In conclusion: Areal Böhler in three words?

Jan: Inviting, exciting and free. For us, this is a piece of freedom.