Erich Zihlmann's fascinating pictorial worlds made of wood

Erich Zihlmann from Cham is one of the few contemporaries who have mastered and actively cultivates the craft of inlay work. He is presenting his fascinating work to the public for the first time in Zug.

When talking about inlay work, you may primarily think of antique furniture or baroque choir stalls in a church. These elaborate, filigree wooden mosaics are a precious decorative element, and also have a representative character. Inlaid handicraft is a skill that is threatened with extinction these days, as professional craftsmen s are more than rare these days.

Erich Zihlmann (*1972) from Cham is one of the few who have mastered and actively practiced the inlay craft. He is now showing the fruits of his craft for the first time as part of a solo exhibition in the old town of Zug.

Zihlmann was fascinated by inlays before he knew what it was – his grandfather had made them. "I admired them over and over again," he recalls. Working with wood also shaped his professional career.

Zihlmann became a carpenter and came into contact with inlay in the first year of his apprenticeship. The childlike fascination was still there, and he now he wanted to practice the craft himself – as a hobby. "Yes, that's how I grew into it. I became more and more fascinated, and looked around for various sources of supply for all kinds of wood."

From rudimentary to extremely filigree
The impressive, mostly self-taught maturation process that he has undergone over 25 years can be seen in his choice of works for the exhibition. His early works tend to have larger parts, and are even more rudimentary in detail. This was soon followed by larger and considerably more elaborate projects, which are so filigree that even the smallest colour gradations look like something from an Old Master painting. Wood particles that measure a fraction of a millimetre are sometimes worked into his later works by the thousand.

Everything is made of pure wood: Erich Zihlmann shows a selection of his work over the past 25 years.
A picture inspired by Gauermann: a group of game in the forest.
The small parts are fascinating: a part of his wooden version of Konrad Grob's painting of the death of Winkelried at the battler of Sempach.                     Photos: Matthias Jurt,  Zug

"I myself am often still impressed today by how diverse the wood is as a material, and how different the colour nuances and grains can be, even within one and the same type of wood," says Erich Zihlmann, looking at a large square inlay picture showing a lush group of plants with all sorts of foliage. "The big challenge in inlay work is not even necessarily the manufacturing process, but finding the right wood shade."

A view of Zug from the lake looks almost photographic, and the same applies to the Kolinplatz with the Zytturm, Lake Lauerz with its myths, or the classic view of old Zermatt with the "Horu" (the Matterhorn) in the background. One of the main works in the exhibition is a large inlaid version of Konrad Grob's painting of Winkelried's death at the Battle of Sempach, "faithfully" implemented in all its variety of details.

Art and everyday life as inspiration
"On the one hand, I look for my motifs in 19th-century painting," says Erich Zihlmann. Above all, he’s impressed by he landscape ideals that were common at the time, and he wants to take these up and reproduce them in his inlays. "On the other hand, there are subjects that I encounter by chance." For example, a forest on the Lenzerheide, which was so uniquely illuminated by the morning sun during a walk that Zihlmann photographed the scenario and then made several wooden versions of it. One even has his son on it, as he looks for squirrels.

In addition to pictures, Zihlmann also shows a selection of wooden boxes, which, on the one hand, he has specially designed and made, and, on the other, he has provided with a subject in the lid, as an inlay, of course. "I don't see myself as an artist, but rather as a craftsman," says Erich Zihlmann, who has additional training as a furniture restorer and now works in home maintenance at the Canton of Zug. For him, inlaying is still a pure leisure activity. "My workshop serves as a retreat to enable me to switch off and relax from everyday life."

Erich Zihlmann would like the inlay craft to continue to exist in the future and to be passed on. He himself has matured so masterfully in it – as evidenced by the exhibits on display – that he could certainly teach it, as he says. When he is on site in the exhibition, he likes to show interested parties his technique, which requires surprisingly little tools. "Who knows, maybe one day I'll give courses."

Inlays by Erich Zihlmann, an exhibition at the Galerie Untere Altstadt 16, Zug (next to Altstadthalle).
From 4 June to 6 July. Open Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun from 10 am to 6 pm, Fri from 2 pm to 6 pm. Zihlmann himself will be in the gallery on Saturdays and Sundays. www.zihlmann-intarsien.ch