Hans Jahne, the 69-year-old filigree artist from Detmold, a town located in northern Germany, has made it his task to use his works to point out to the ruinous exploitation of our nature. He copies insects in high-grade steel - for touching and learning. "With my sculptures of insects and spiders made of high-grade steel, which are removed from their habitat and are magnified, I want to enable everybody to have an unreserved look at these highly interesting small creatures."

Hans Jahne uses the stainless high-grade steel (Remanit) for his sculptures, none of which are equal. "After I have put the animal down in a drawing, I immediately start converting it into steel. The high-grade steel is available in sheet-metal plates of various thicknesses. My tools can be found in a small locksmith's workshop: steel slitting shears, welding machine, right angle grinder, and many files made of the best high-grade steels. In addition, there is an impressive number of various types of hammer as well as the anvil and the necessary forging tools, which I have manufactured from old car axles in parts".

"In most cases, I start with the head of the animal. Small cuts into the sheet metal plate are sufficient to form the head rather well. Round shapes are preformed on the lead block. Breast and abdomen are made from small blanks, which are tacked together and welded. In between, the portable grinders are used for shaping. Consequently, all parts of the body are produced by a constant change of welding and grinding processes. Afterwards, the parts are welded together as they belong. For this purpose I have left small openings in the parts of the body. These openings are closed last of all, and are thoroughly worked. Legs, feelers, and wings are firmly attached to the body, and the contact points are reworked. The position of the sculpture is checked again and again from all sides. The finishing touches are carried out by hand without the use of machines. If everything has turned out well according to my opinion, I fit in the eye stones. This piece of work completes the animal."

ArtMetal Editor/Curator: Enrique Vega

Last Updated: Sun, Jul 30, 1995