About the artist — Lars Baggenstos

Lars Baggenstos was born right at the Coastline of the North Sea in Germany, and until he was five years of age he smelt the salty sea every day. During that time he was already surrounded by drawing and painting people. Karl Neumann, his grandfather, was a landscape painter and Lars spend hours watching him mixing turpentine with oil colours. His father, Markus Baggenstos, worked as a drawing and sculpting teacher at the crafts and recreational center in Bremerhaven, Germany. It was during this time that Lars picked up his first pencil.

When he was five, he moved with his parents to Switzerland. It was there that he discovered his passion for forests, mountains and everything living in them. During his elementary and highschool years, drawing was his way to escape into the realm of wildife, mystery and nature. But it was in school that he discovered his other creative field, sculpting. After he finished highschool, enrollment in the Woodcarving School of Brienz came quite naturally. He spent four years In the heart of the Bernese Alps learning the tricks of the wood carving trade.

After five years of working in sculpting in mediums from wood to stainless steel, the urge to broaden his skills led him to the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Zürich University of Fine Arts). He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts ZFH in Visual Communication with a specialization in Scientific Visualization. Since then, he has worked as a freelance illustrator for clients including the Naturhistorisches Museum of Basel (Basel Natural History Museum) and Tourism Uri, and as a sculptor for theater and movie sets. His love for the great outdoors brought him in 2015 to Rossland BC, Canada, where he currently lives with his wife (who is Canadian) and dog. When Lars is not at his drawing table, he is swinging a chainsaw, paddling turbulent whitewater or tracking down animals in the backcountry.

Galleries:

Craft Connection, Nelson BC

Adele Campbel Gallery, Whistler BC

Kunze Gallery, Creston BC

The Quoynary Canada, Rossland BC

Curiculum Vitae:

Recipient of the Major Projects Arts & Culture grant 2023 of the Columbia Kootenay Culture Alliance
for the sculptural project ‘Royalty’, release June 2024.
Guest teacher position at the Schule für Holzbildhauerei des Kantons Bern, Brienz, Switzerland (August & September 2022)
Solo Show ‘Hibernation Dreams’ at the Hidden Garden Gallery, New Denver, B.C. (August 2022)
Coordinating and actively partaking at the second Rossland Wood Sculpture Symposium, Rossland, B.C. (June 2022)
Installing ‘Findling’ at the Castlegar Sculpturewalk, Castlegar, B.C. (May 2022)
Radical Wreath Exhibition supported by the @visacgallery and the #trailartscouncil (December 2021)
Winning the Artist Resiliency Award from the Rossland Council for Arts &Culture, Rossland, B.C. (July 2021)
Start of the public art exhibition at the Castlegar Sculpturewalk, Castlegar, B.C. (May 2021)
Becoming part of the artist roster of the Adele Cambpell Gallery, Whistler B.C. (February 2021)
Joining the roster of artists at the Kunze Gallery, Creston, B.C. (December 2020)
Exhibiting at Quoynery Gallery in Rossland, B.C. (September 2020)
Coordinating and actively partaking at the first Rossland Wood Sculpture Symposium, Rossland, B.C. (September 2020)
Solo-Exhibition ‘FRACTURA’ sculptures and paintings at the VISAC Gallery in Trail, B.C. (February 2020)
The Sculpture ‘Restoration & Resilience’ selected for the 2019 Penticton Sculpture Project, Penticton, B.C. (January 2019)
Winning the public choice award at the re-opening of the Minors Hall Exhibition, Rossland, B.C. (October 2017)
Designing animations for the Permanent Exhibition of the Natural History Museum Basel, Switzerland (May 2016)
Solo-Show URS GLOBAL ink paintings of the family Ursidae at the Burgunder Bern, Switzerland (July 2015)
Drawing zoetrope illustrations for the 100-year anniversary exhibition for the National Park of Swizerland (September 2013)
Working as a self-employed illustrator and sculptor in Bern, Switzerland (July 2013 – August 2015)
The Garbage Project Collab. Exhibition Museum of Design Zürich Switzerland (July 2012- September 2012)
BA Design, Knowledge Visualization at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Switzerland (September 2010- June 2013)
Working as a self-employed sculptor, Switzerland (October 2008- August 2010)
Working with established sculptor Carlo Borer, Switzerland (July 2008 - September 2008)
Exhibition to celebrate the 60 anniversary of the Swiss Woodcarving Association (April 2008)
Building up Woodcarving Studio in Gersau, Switzerland (May 2007- June 2008)
Exhibition Europäischer Gestaltungs Preis, Stuttgart Germany (August 2006)
Diploma at Schule für Holzbildhauerei des Kantons Bern, Switzerland (July 2006)