Foam, Map, Cosmos:

Lena Feldmann’s Art of Hidden Orders

Lena Feldmann (b. 1988) lives and works in Lohmar and Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany. Her work revolves around hidden orders: connections between micro- and macrocosm, between cell and landscape. She is captivated by fleeting moments—light reflections, bubbles, topographical lines—and seeks a form of resonance within them: not order as control, but as a subtle structure that sustains. The unique aspect of her work is the combination of precise craftsmanship and poetic material research: she makes the ephemeral visible and durable, without stripping it of its lightness. At just 16, she left home to begin training as an art glazier at Berufskolleg Rheinbach. There, she found her natural language: precise observation, technical drawing, and the design and execution of her own ideas—with a accurateness that was recognized early on. Alongside her journeyman's certificate, her masterpiece earned her the title of 1st Chamber Winner of the Cologne Chamber of Crafts, she became 1st State Winner of the South Westphalia Chamber of Crafts in North Rhine-Westphalia, and achieved 2nd place in "Die Gute Form im Handwerk" (Good Design in Crafts) from the Central Association of German Crafts in Berlin. Despite this recognition, Feldmann felt that while pure craftsmanship was a foundation, it was not her ultimate goal. She wanted to pursue the quiet moments where structure and wonder combine. In 2009, she began studying Free Art Glass at the Institute for Artistic Ceramics and Glass (IKKG) in Höhr-Grenzhausen. There, she explored glass to its limits and developed her own glass fusion techniques, which garnered her international attention even during her studies: in her works, she preserves the ephemeral structure of foam, offering a glimpse into complex, otherwise barely perceptible structures. In addition to glass, Lena Feldmann also works with watercolor, photography, and linocut. Another unusual technique is carving topographical maps into multiple lacquered wooden panels. Inspired by linocut printing plates, she creates three-dimensionality through light and shadow in the cut edges—reliefs where orientation and movement become simultaneously perceptible. This results in works that appear both as maps of reality and as maps of an inner space: precise, poetic, and attentive. Her work has received numerous awards, including the Alexander Tutsek Scholarship (2023), the AKM Young Talent Award (2023), the August Müller Scholarship (2017), the Corning Museum of Glass Award at the Stanislav Libenský Award (2015), and 1st prize at the 6th Immenhausen Glass Prize (2015). In 2013, she received 3rd prize at the 1st Hadamarer Glass Prize and a PROMOS scholarship from Koblenz University of Applied Sciences. Works by Lena Feldmann are held in public collections, including the Ernsting Foundation Coesfeld-Lette, the Immenhausen Glass Museum, the Art Collection of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, and the Art Collection of Veste Coburg. As Feldmann continuously works on new forms, materials, and concepts, her work remains in motion. Her works are invitations to mindful seeing—to where the small reappears in the large, and wonder becomes the origin of insight.