Susanne Tunn

Susanne Tunn (born 1958) is a German sculptor. She is well known for her big sculptures made from stone, but works as well in other natural materials such as tin, wood, concrete, plants or dust. Whether she is working with outsize or tiny formats, they always emit a strong physical effect. Born in Detmold (1958) she studied Art and Sociology at the University of Bielefeld. She lives in Alfhausen, near Osnabrück. In 1998 she was awarded the Prize of the 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia for her installation 166 beds – Peace and Noise, a site-specific sculpture in concrete and a sound installation. Since 1992 she is lecturer in stone sculpture at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Austria. Her sculptures pay witness of her radical way of working: the material itself in its given form is a main focus throughout the working process. Another important focus is the site-relationship. Some of her significant site-specific works are: 5 tables, 1989–2004, which include sculptures from stone and plants located in Germany (Table of Thinking), Spain (Table of the Desert), Sweden (Table of the Sea), Switzerland (The Mountain-Table), Romania (Table for two couples and a dog), the sculpture POL-Stein (made of stone) which is located in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany opposite an architectural work of Frank Gehry and set to be a contrast to it, and more recently the chapel of the Johannes Wesling Hospital at Minden (2004–2008), which is recognized as the first hospital chapel in Germany completely developed and built by a contemporary artist. Her concern is more and more the conception and development of sculptural systems including material, form and site. She has published books about several of her pieces of art. Being of extraordinary high quality aesthetically (the book Im Inneren des Baumes, 1990, was awarded by the German Stiftung Buchkunst) these books can be considered as a literary expansion of her sculptural work. 2009–2011 The Key and A.D.