Heiner Zimmermann forges art and translates traditional forms into contemporary visual aesthetics. He is an ambassador of his craft. Growing up in his father’s workshop he learned and appreciated the ancient techniques and traditions of hammer and anvil. In his work Heiner combines a traditional formal language practiced in ancient craftsmanship with contemporary aesthetic expression. Heiner is interested in modern aesthetics which include a revised use of traditional techniques and materials and this is an approach he teaches as a professor in Arts and Craft, at HDK University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
He finished his formal training in 1991 and was awarded the national “Good Design Award” (now known as “Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany”). Other awards followed. During his formative years, supported by several scholarships, he travelled and worked for renowned metal artists across the continent and in the United States. He then went on to do further training in the conservation of art and architectural history in Venice. After his master’s certificate in 1998 he took over his father forge in Pliezhausen, Germany.
Heiner Zimmermann’s works is always the result of a search for form, structure and surface that touch and move the viewer. His work combines a respect for the forging tradition and its material with contemporary art and design. Each work is forged through a highly individual creation process. As each unique work appears its formal development symbolizes the union of an idea, and human will, with the material – iron.
