Vinko Nino Jaeger

If trees could talk

• Vinko dislikes industrially produced furniture
• Childhood experiences made him fall in love with wood
• He only works with traditional tools

Vinko Nino Jaeger describes himself as an artist-philosopher who writes his thoughts in wood and lives and works with wood. Vinko studied object sculpture, painting and wood restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and opened his studio in 2019. Often inspired by everyday life, he shares how his Odd Leg chair sculptures series came about: "During a summer trip, a huge maple branch fell on my car. The deepest impact was just 5 to 10 cm between my head and the car's roof. The car was a total loss. But I took a piece of the branch and formed it into a chair sculpture leg. It is a three-legged sculpture highlighted by a leg that is shaped differently. It was an attempt at magically transforming the menacing tree into something else, something controllable.”

Interview

©Patrick Bauer_ Sellerie

©Patrick Bauer_ Sellerie

What made you fall in love with wood sculpting?

Along a hiking trail in my native Carinthian mountains was a larger-than-life sculpture made of larch wood which I often walked past as a child. I was fascinated by the design, the technique, and the wood. At some point, I just knew I also wanted to make wooden sculptures.

What triggered the creation of your first object?

I had a tiny apartment but needed space for computer work. So I made myself a small table. It represents my search for alternatives in design and problem-solving. It is functional, extravagant and yet reserved. I love this table and would never part with it.

What is distinctive about your work?

I do not use machines. From felling trees with an axe and saw to the finished object, I only work with traditional tools such as hatchet, drawknife, spokeshave, chisel and mallet. I see trees as a counterpart, as friends, and in my designs, I want to give them a new life.

What do you love most about working with wood?

I love the connection of thinking, with the whole body, and producing an artefact that can exist independently. While the challenges never stop, there is always something new to discover. Wood as a material presents great individuality that I engage and dialogue with.

Vinko Nino Jaeger is an expert artisan: he began his career in 2012 and he started teaching in 2021

Works

©Vinko Nino Jaeger

©Vinko Nino Jaeger

©Vinko Nino Jaeger

©Vinko Nino Jaeger

©Vinko Nino Jaeger

Where