Astrid Wilk

Edition Three Feature 
Words by: Astrid Wilk
Location: Dortmund, Germany 
Photo Credits: ©Roland Baege @rolandbaege 

I am a freelance artist who specialises in plant-themed miniatures made from polymer clay. I’m always interested in pushing the material to its limits. After studying art and educational science at the Technical University (TU) Dortmund, Germany, I went on to study fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Münster. 

I mainly deal with tropical houseplants and reproduce them in different scales from polymer clay. I attach great importance to many details and specific characteristics of the respective plants. I also make accessories and furniture from various materials. 

I deal a lot with the so-called technique of ‘caning’ to create leaf patterns. This means that I transfer specific leaf patterns in the respective clay colour into a cane, from which I cut thin slices and shape them into leaves. All of the patterns that can be seen are located directly in the material; they are not painted on afterwards. The production of the leaf canes is very complex and time-consuming, so that only a limited number of leaves is available for a limited number of plants of each species. To be able to reproduce as many plants as possible, I always have to develop new techniques or discover polymer clay processing from other areas and adapt it to my needs. 

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